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that the reference in section 6404(a) to “any liability in
respect to” the tax includes interest that has accrued on the
underlying tax. H & H Trim & Upholstery Co. v. Commissioner,
supra. We then interpreted the term “excessive” in section
6404(a), as it relates to interest, to include a concept of
unfairness under all of the facts and circumstances. Id. After
examining the facts of the case, we concluded that petitioner’s
employment tax liability for one of the quarters at issue would
have been fully paid on January 15, 1997, “but for” the
Commissioner’s error, that requiring petitioner to pay interest
accrued as a result of the Commissioner’s error was unfair, and
that the interest accrual attributable to the Commissioner’s
error was therefore excessive. We held that the Commissioner’s
determination not to abate interest for the period from January
16, 1997 through June 30, 1998, was an abuse of the
Commissioner’s discretion.
In this case, petitioner’s argument is essentially an
argument about unfairness. Petitioner contends that respondent’s
error in levying upon money owed to petitioner or to petitioner’s
principal caused the third party to terminate its relationship
with petitioner and/or its principal and deprived petitioner of
the income stream that was funding the installment agreement.
Petitioner also contends that representatives of respondent have
acknowledged respondent’s mistake and have even agreed that
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