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GALE, J., concurring: I agree with result reached by the
majority. I write separately to address respondent’s contention
that the legislative history supports an interpretation of
section 6330(c)(2)(B) that precludes a taxpayer’s ability to
dispute a tax liability reported on the return (a self-reported
or “self-assessed” liability) in a section 6330 proceeding.
Assuming that the language of section 6330(c)(2)(B) contains
sufficient ambiguity to justify resort to the legislative
history, that history offers little support for respondent’s
position and indeed suggests the contrary.
Section 6330 originated in section 3401 of the Senate
version of H.R. 2676, the bill that, after amendment, was enacted
as the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of
1998, Pub. L. 105-206, 112 Stat. 747. The predecessor of section
6330(c)(2)(B) in the Senate version provided without limitation
that a taxpayer could raise in a section 6330 proceeding
“challenges to the underlying tax liability as to existence or
amount”. H.R. 2676, sec. 3401(b), 105th Cong., 2d Sess. (1998),
144 Cong. Rec. S4163 (daily ed. May 4, 1998).
The expansive Senate version provoked a critical response
from the Treasury Department and other representatives of the
executive branch concerned with its overbreadth. An OMB
Statement of Administration Policy issued after the Senate
Finance Committee reported the Senate version, and a letter from
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