- 11 - to that bargain is invited and will conclude it.’ 1 Restatement, Contracts 2d, sec. 24 (1981). “In a tax case, it ‘is not necessary that the parties execute a closing agreement under section 7121 in order to settle a case pending before this Court, but, rather, a settlement agreement may be reached through offer and acceptance made by letter, or even in the absence of a writing.’ Lamborn v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1994-515. Settlement offers made and accepted by letters are enforced as binding agreements. Haiduk v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1990-506; see also Himmelwright v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1988-114.” In the circumstances we consider here, the authority to settle is not the decisive element of whether a binding contract was formed. Clearly, there was an offer of settlement in the form of the January 6, 2006, letter from petitioners’ counsel to Ms. Gonzalez. That offer sought to resolve the only issue then pending in this case--the cash contributions disallowed in the notice of deficiency. It is less clear whether that offer was accepted and/or whether there was a meeting of the minds. It is certain that Ms. Gonzalez did not make a written or oral response, and hence did not accept the offer irrespective of whether she had authority to do so. To the extent there was an acceptance of the offer, petitioners contend that it was made by Mr. Carriger. In the circumstances of this case, we cannot conclude that Mr. Carriger accepted petitioners’ offer. First, the offer was not made to Mr. Carriger. Significantly, the negotiations were conducted by Ms. Gonzalez and not by Mr. Carriger, and he was not aware of the specifics of the offer. Mr. Carriger’s response to Mr. StientjesPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
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