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exercised his discretion arbitrarily, capriciously, or without
sound basis in fact or law. See Rule 142(a); Woodral v.
Commissioner, 112 T.C. 19, 23 (1999).
As applicable to 1995 and 1996, preamendment section
6404(e)(1) permits the Commissioner to abate all or any part of
an assessment of interest on any payment of tax if an 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”, and the taxpayer caused no significant aspect
of the delay.
As applicable to 1998 through 2001, section 6404(e) permits
the Commissioner to abate interest with respect to any
“unreasonable” error or delay resulting from “managerial” or
ministerial acts. See Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, sec. 301(a)(1)
and (2), Pub. L. 104-168, 110 Stat. 1457 (1996), effective for
interest accruing with respect to tax years beginning after July
30, 1996.
Section 301.6404-2T(b)(1), Temporary Proced. & Admin. Regs.,
52 Fed. Reg. 30163 (Aug. 13, 1987), defines a “ministerial act”
as “a procedural or mechanical act that does not involve the
exercise of judgment or discretion, and that occurs during the
processing of a taxpayer’s case after all prerequisites to the
5(...continued)
requests for abatement after July 30, 1996. Taxpayer Bill of
Rights 2, Pub. L. 104-168, sec. 302, 110 Stat. 1457 (1996).
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Last modified: May 25, 2011