Edward P. Heaphy - Page 9

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          amount of petitioner’s underlying 1997 tax liability is not a               
          relevant issue to be addressed at the section 6320 hearing.  See            
          Sego v. Commissioner, supra at 609.                                         
               Petitioner was afforded an opportunity at the section 6320             
          hearing to raise all relevant issues as set forth in section                
          6330(c)(2)(A), including offers of collection alternatives.  He             
          failed to take advantage of that opportunity.4                              
               Petitioner claims that there was an irregularity in the Form           
          4340 sent to him.  As best we can understand petitioner’s                   
          position, he complains that the Form 4340 was improperly signed             
          by Kathleen R. Bushnell, Accounting Branch Chief.  This argument            
          is groundless.                                                              
               Section 6301 provides that the Secretary has the power to              
          collect taxes.  That power can be delegated to IRS District                 
          Directors and in turn redelegated to local-level officials.  See            
          sec. 301.6301-1, Proced. & Admin. Regs.; Delegation Order No. 198           
          (Rev. 5), Sept. 7, 2001.  “The delegation of authority down the             
          chain of command, from the Secretary to the Commissioner of                 
          Internal Revenue, to local IRS employees constitutes a valid                

               4At trial, petitioner appeared to be willing to discuss                
          compromising his 1997 tax liability.  He did not, however, make             
          any offer.  Moreover, because petitioner failed to file a proper            
          tax return for 1998, 1999, 2000, or 2001 and appeared unwilling             
          to do so, the IRS (pursuant to its stated policy) would be                  
          precluded from considering any offer in compromise made by                  
          petitioner with respect to his 1997 unpaid tax liability.  In any           
          event, if petitioner seriously wanted to propose a collection               
          alternative, he should have done so at the sec. 6320 hearing.               





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