- 13 -
Gordon on January 30, 2002. As discussed above, on that date,
Advisor Gordon faxed to Settlement Officer O’Shea a copy of a
prior memorandum from Advisor Gordon to Attorney Forbes, dated
October 5, 1999, which discussed the distribution of proceeds
from the sale of petitioner’s three properties subject to Federal
tax liens upon dismissal of petitioner’s bankruptcy case.
Respondent contends that the ex parte communication between
Settlement Officer O’Shea and Advisor Gordon was inconsequential
because Settlement Officer O’Shea received no factual information
not already known to petitioner. Additionally, respondent
contends that petitioner was provided with the opportunity to
discuss the distribution of sale proceeds, as demonstrated by the
letter from Appeals Officer Kaplan to Mr. Burke dated July 2,
2003.
The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of
1998, Pub. L. 105-206, sec. 1001(a), 112 Stat. 689, directed the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue to develop a plan to prohibit ex
parte communications between Appeals officers and other employees
of the Internal Revenue Service that appear to compromise the
independence of the Appeals officers:
The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue shall develop
and implement a plan to reorganize the Internal Revenue
Service. The plan shall * * * (4) ensure an
independent appeals function within the Internal
Revenue Service, including the prohibition in the plan
of ex parte communications between appeals officers and
other Internal Revenue Service employees to the extent
that such communications appear to compromise the
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011