- 9 - Since the underlying tax liability is not at issue, we review the Appeals officer’s determination using the abuse of discretion standard. Under this standard, a determination will be affirmed unless action was taken that was arbitrary or capricious, lacks sound basis in fact, or is not justifiable in light of the facts and circumstances. Freije v. Commissioner, 125 T.C. 14, 23 (2005). Petitioner broadly assigned error to a denial of his right to a fair hearing. Based on the information before us and the arguments in his opposition to summary judgment, we believe his primary contention to be that the Appeals officer abused her discretion by failing to recommend any collection alternatives in lieu of the Federal tax lien. In his opposition to summary judgment, petitioner presents a laundry list of collection alternatives that he believes would have been appropriate. However, the Appeals officer is only required to consider the “offers of collection alternatives” raised and information presented by the taxpayer. Chandler v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-7. The only collection alternative even remotely pursued by petitioner at the Appeals hearing was an offer-in-compromise. However, petitioner’s attempt at securing an OIC was weak at best. See discussion below. Therefore, it was not an abuse of discretion for respondent’s settlement officer to decline to give more consideration to the matter than she did.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NextLast modified: November 10, 2007