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determinations otherwise invalidated, merely on account of the
lack of a recording when to do so is not necessary and would not
be productive. See, e.g., Frey v. Commissioner, supra;
Durrenberger v. Commissioner, supra; Brashear v. Commissioner,
supra; Kemper v. Commissioner, supra; see also Lunsford v.
Commissioner, 117 T.C. 183, 189 (2001). A principal scenario
falling short of the necessary or productive standard exists
where the taxpayers rely on frivolous or groundless arguments
consistently rejected by this and other courts. See, e.g., Frey
v. Commissioner, supra; Brashear v. Commissioner, supra; Kemper
v. Commissioner, supra.
Because no hearing had been conducted at all in petitioner’s
case, we declined to grant respondent’s motion for summary
judgment. The record as it then existed did not foreclose the
possibility that petitioner might have raised valid arguments had
a hearing been held. Accordingly, we provided petitioner an
opportunity before the Court at the trial session in Las Vegas to
identify any legitimate issues he wished to raise that could
warrant further consideration of the merits of his case by the
Appeals Office or this Court. Petitioner, however, merely
continued to focus on the denial of a recorded hearing and
offered no substantive issues of merit.
Hence, despite repeated warnings and opportunities, the only
contentions other than the recorded hearing advanced by
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