Alfred A. Diffee, Jr. and Norma J. Diffee - Page 9




                                        - 9 -                                         
          Commissioner, 117 T.C. 183, 185 (2001); Sego v. Commissioner,               
          supra at 610; Goza v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 176, 182 (2000).  An           
          abuse of discretion occurs if the Appeals Office exercises its              
          discretion “arbitrarily, capriciously, or without sound basis in            
          fact or law.”  Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. 19, 23 (1999).             
               Petitioners do not dispute their underlying tax liabilities            
          for any of the relevant years.  Accordingly, we shall review                
          respondent’s determination for abuse of discretion in deciding              
          whether to grant respondent’s summary judgment motion.                      
               In their petition, petitioners allege that respondent abused           
          his discretion by failing to consider the reality of petitioners’           
          income, health status, and expenses when determining petitioners’           
          ability to pay under an installment agreement.  Respondent argues           
          that he did not abuse his discretion by sustaining the proposed             
          levy.                                                                       
               On the record presented in support of respondent’s summary             
          judgment motion, we conclude that there is no material fact in              
          dispute regarding the exercise of respondent’s discretion.                  
          Petitioners did not file any response to respondent’s summary               
          judgment motion.  Because they did  not respond, we are left with           
          the task of reviewing the motion record without the benefit of              
          petitioners’ guidance.                                                      
               The record shows that Officer Clark did not abuse his                  
          discretion by making adjustments to petitioners’ Form 433-A.                







Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  Next 

Last modified: November 10, 2007