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the notice of determination, respondent granted interest
abatement for the period August 9, 1997 (31 days after the
closing agreement for Asher was signed by Asher’s TMP), through
December 10, 1998 (the date respondent countersigned the closing
agreement), and denied petitioner’s request for interest
abatement for the periods April 15, 1984, through August 9, 1997,
and December 10, 1998, through December 1, 2000. Petitioner
timely filed a petition in this Court, requesting review of
respondent’s determination to deny in part his request for
interest abatement for the period April 15, 1984, through August
1, 1999.
OPINION
As applicable to the years in question, section
6404(e)(1)(B) provides that the Commissioner may abate all or any
part of an assessment of interest on any payment of certain taxes
to the extent that any error or delay in such payment is
attributable to an officer or employee of the IRS “being
erroneous or dilatory in performing a ministerial act”.6 A
ministerial act is a procedural or mechanical act that does not
involve the exercise of judgment or discretion and that occurs
6 Congress amended sec. 6404(e) in 1996 to permit abatement
of interest for “unreasonable” error or delay in performing a
ministerial or “managerial” act. Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, Pub.
L. 104-168, sec. 301(a), 110 Stat. 1457 (1996). That standard
applies only to tax years beginning after July 30, 1996, and thus
does not apply in the present case. Id. sec. 301(c).
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