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Section 7122 authorizes the Secretary to compromise any
civil case arising under the internal revenue laws and requires
him to prescribe guidelines for officers and employees of the
Internal Revenue Service to determine whether an offer-in-
compromise is adequate and should be accepted to resolve a
dispute. Sec. 7122(a), (c)(1). These guidelines must include
published schedules of national and local allowances designed to
ensure that taxpayers entering into a compromise will have
adequate means to provide for basic living expenses and must also
provide for a determination, based on the facts and circumstances
of each taxpayer, that use of the published schedules will not
result in the taxpayer's lacking adequate means to provide for
basic living expenses. Sec. 7122(c)(2).
The contemplated guidelines and schedules have been
published. See sec. 301.7122-1T(b)(3)(ii), Temporary Proced. &
Admin. Regs., 64 Fed. Reg. 39020 (July 21, 1999); IRM, exh.
5.15.1-4 and -5 (Oct. 1999); IRM, exh. 5.15.1-10 and -11 (Oct.
2000). Under this administrative guidance, the Commissioner will
generally compromise a liability on the basis of doubt as to
collectibility only if the liability exceeds the taxpayer's
reasonable collection potential. Cf. Murphy v. Commissioner, 125
T.C. 301, 308-310 (2005). A taxpayer's reasonable collection
potential is determined, in part, using published guidelines for
certain national and local allowances for basic living expenses,
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