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Federal taxes. Upon request, a taxpayer is entitled to a “fair
hearing” conducted by an impartial officer from the Office of
Appeals. Sec. 6330(b)(1), (3). Such a hearing need not be
conducted face-to-face; a taxpayer may receive a fair hearing by
telephone or through written correspondence. Sec. 301.6330-
1(d)(2) Q&A-D7, Proced. & Admin. Regs. At the hearing, the
Appeals officer is required to: (1) Obtain verification from
the Secretary that the requirements of applicable law and
administrative procedure have been met, (2) consider certain
issues raised by the taxpayer such as collection alternatives
including an installment agreement or an offer in compromise, and
(3) consider whether any proposed collection action balances the
need for the efficient collection of taxes with the legitimate
concern of the taxpayer that any collection action be no more
intrusive than necessary. Sec. 6330(c).
This Court has jurisdiction to review the Commissioner’s
administrative determination under section 6330(d). Where, as
here, the validity of the underlying tax liability is not at
issue, we review the determination for abuse of discretion. Sego
v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 604, 610 (2000); Goza v. Commissioner,
114 T.C. 176, 181-182 (2000). In doing so, under the
circumstances of this case, we do not conduct an independent
review of what would be an acceptable offer in compromise.
Rather, we review only whether the Appeals officer’s decision to
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Last modified: May 25, 2011