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not to an amended return. An amended return is a document of
uncertain status under the Internal Revenue Code. There is no
statutory requirement to file an amended return in the Code. See
Badaracco v. Commissioner, 464 U.S. 386 (1984). There is no
regulatory or administrative requirement promulgated by the
Commissioner requiring a taxpayer to file an amended return. See
id. In fact, the Commissioner is not required to accept and
process an amended return. See, e.g., Dover Corp. & Subs. v.
Commissioner, 148 F.3d 70, 72-73 (2d Cir. 1998), affg. T.C. Memo.
1997-339 and T.C. Memo. 1997-340; Koch v. Alexander, 561 F.2d
1115, 1117 (4th Cir. 1977); Miskovsky v. United States, 414 F.2d
954 (3d Cir. 1969). The Commissioner will process an amended
return only when he chooses to do so. As the Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit stated in Koch v. Alexander, supra at
1117:
There is simply no statutory provision authorizing
the filing of amended tax returns, and while the IRS
has, as a matter of internal administration, recognized
and accepted such returns for limited purposes, their
treatment has not been elevated beyond a matter of
internal agency discretion. [Fn. ref. omitted.]
There are many instances in which the Federal courts have
examined provisions of the Code and determined that a statutory
reference to “return” is to the taxpayer’s original return. In
Badaracco v. Commissioner, supra at 393, the United States
Supreme Court stated:
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