Industrial Investors - Page 14




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          3.   Time of the Hearing                                                    
               Industrial claims that Talbott’s unilateral scheduling of a            
          telephone conference was a third abuse of discretion.  However,             
          Industrial didn’t raise this issue in its petition to this Court            
          and, under Rule 331(b)(4), the issue is therefore deemed to be              
          conceded.  Industrial did raise a related issue which we feel               
          should be mentioned: it argued that the Commissioner erred by not           
          permitting sufficient time to present evidence in support of                
          Industrial’s offer-in-compromise.  This is not a problem that               
          lends itself to bright lines, and will presumably be fixed on               
          remand.  We merely note that eighteen business days from the date           
          of initial contact hardly seems an adequate amount of time for a            
          corporation to provide all relevant documentation, and putting              
          Industrial into default when Wells left word that he was under              
          subpoena to appear in court is inexplicable.                                
          4.   Evidence of Industrial’s Settlement Agreement                          
               The final argument that we discuss is Industrial’s                     
          contention that Talbott failed to consider evidence of the                  
          settlement between Industrial and the IRS.  Talbott refused to              
          review the documents because he regarded them as an attempt by              
          Industrial to challenge its underlying tax liability.  But it               
          wasn’t:  When a taxpayer argues that the assessed amount doesn’t            
          accurately reflect a settlement, judgment, or decision, he isn’t            
          challenging his liability--he’s challenging the accuracy of the             






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