Richard Nichols and Lisa Nichols - Page 12

                                       - 12 -                                         
          Rept. 105-599, at 266 (1998), 1998-3 C.B. 770, 1020; see Sego v.            
          Commissioner, 114 T.C. at 609-610 (2000).  Because they gave up             
          their right to come to Tax Court to redetermine their deficiency            
          before collection, they can’t successfully complain when the                
          Commissioner tries to collect.                                              
          B.   Abatement of Interest                                                  
               The Nicholses also ask us to review their request for                  
          interest abatement, either as a direct appeal of the                        
          Commissioner’s denial of their request under section 6404 or as             
          part of their CDP hearing under section 6320.  Under either                 
          theory, we must decide whether the Commissioner abused his                  
          discretion.  Sec. 6404(h)(1); Sego, 114 T.C. at 609-610.                    
               Direct review under section 6404(h)(1) requires a taxpayer             
          to petition this Court within 180 days of the Secretary’s final             
          determination not to abate interest.  The problem for the                   
          Nicholses is that the Secretary has not yet issued a final                  
          determination.  The first request for interest abatement, which             
          the Nicholses included in a letter dated October 31, 2003, was              
          denied on November 20, 2003.  The Nicholses then filed an appeal            
          with the IRS in December 2003, but that appeal has not yet run              
          its course.  Even if we treat the initial rejection as a final              
          determination, they did not meet the Code’s 180-day deadline.  We           
          thus have no independent jurisdiction under section 6404.                   
               We may, however, have jurisdiction under section 6320.  In             






Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011