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otherwise have an opportunity to dispute such tax
liability. [Emphasis added.]
The statute utilizes the past tense in reference to the
opportunity to dispute, indicating that Congress contemplated
that the dispute opportunity would have already transpired when
the hearing under section 6330 occurred. Respondent's
regulations confirm this interpretation: "An opportunity to
dispute a liability includes a prior opportunity for a conference
with Appeals that was offered either before or after the
assessment of the liability." Sec. 301.6330-1(e)(3), Q&A-E2,
Proced. & Admin. Regs. (emphasis added). In upholding the
validity of this regulation recently, we concluded that "Congress
* * * intended to preclude taxpayers who were previously afforded
a conference with the Appeals Office from raising the underlying
liabilities again in a collection review hearing and before this
Court." Lewis v. Commissioner, supra at 61 (emphasis added).
Should the earlier Appeals conference opportunity be treated
as a prior opportunity where, as in this case, the requested
conference opportunity is not resolved by Appeals until after the
taxpayer has requested, but not received, a section 6330 hearing?
We conclude not, because to construe the statute in this manner
would consign to the Commissioner’s discretion whether the
underlying tax liability is subject to judicial review. The
Commissioner could cut off judicial review in these circumstances
by the simple expedient of processing the Appeals consideration
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