- 56 -
to take the position that the abuse of discretion standard of
review has different evidentiary consequences in the context of
Tax Court review than it does elsewhere: “The traditional effect
of applying an abuse of discretion standard in this Court is to
alter the standard of review, not to restrict what evidence we
consider in making our determination.” Majority op. p. 13. The
majority proceeds to list six examples of situations in which we
have conducted trials de novo to determine whether the
Commissioner has abused his discretion: (1) Section 446 cases,
(2) section 482 cases, (3) review of the Commissioner’s refusal
to waive penalties and additions to tax, (4) review of interest
abatement denials, (5) review of the Commissioner’s refusal to
grant filing extensions, and (6) review of the Commissioner’s
disallowance of a bad debt reserve deduction. Majority op. pp.
14-16.
2. Distinguishing the Majority’s Examples
In all but one of the majority’s examples regarding de novo
proceedings in the context of this Court’s abuse of discretion
review, the Commissioner’s exercise of discretion is relevant to
his determination of the existence or amount of a deficiency in
tax or an addition to tax that is subject to our deficiency
jurisdiction.12 Our opinion in Estate of Gardner v.
12 The one exception involves our jurisdiction (conferred
in 1996) to review interest abatement adjudications. The
(continued...)
Page: Previous 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011