- 17 - by reason of agreements to extend the period for assessing tax under section 6501(c)(4), which provides that taxpayers and the Commissioner may extend the time for assessment by agreement.6 Respondent maintains that section 6229(b)(3) does not apply because it references only partnership items and not affected items. Respondent’s position therefore is that the parties validly extended the period of limitations pursuant to section 6501(c)(4) and that section 6229(b)(3) refers only to partnership items and therefore does not affect the limitations period. For the reasons stated below, we hold that respondent’s position is incorrect. B. Respondent’s Position Ignores the Cross-Reference in Section 6229(b)(3) to Section 6229(a), Which Includes Affected Items Contrary to respondent’s interpretation, “tax attributable to partnership items” refers to what must be stated in the agreement in order to extend the period of limitations, not to the limitations period itself.7 The preceding phrase “the period described in subsection (a)”, references section 6229(a), which 6The general period of limitations under sec. 6501(a), which generally provides that tax must be assessed within 3 years after the return was filed no matter when it was due, has clearly expired with respect to both the partnership and petitioners individually as those returns were filed in 1996, and respondent issued the notice of deficiency in 2005. Respondent has not argued that section 6501(e) is applicable to this case. 7See Schumacher Trading Partners II v. United States, supra, for a discussion of the role of sec. 6229(b)(3).Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011