Theodore C. and Denise M. Schwartz - Page 8

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               Congress obviously recognized that section 7463(a) failed to           
          encompass section 6330 collection cases when it enacted section             
          7463(f) to clarify that a section 6330 collection case can be               
          litigated as a small tax case.7  However, in section 7463(f),               
          Congress provided an articulation of the $50,000 limit for                  
          section 6330 collection cases that was different from that                  
          expressed in section 7463(a) for deficiency cases.  Section                 
          7463(f) provides for the availability of the small tax case                 
          procedures in a section 6330 collection case challenging “a                 
          determination in which the unpaid tax does not exceed $50,000.”             
          The “determination” being appealed to the Tax Court referenced in           
          section 7463(f) is the same determination referenced in section             
          6330(c) and (d).  In the instant case, the determination is that            


               6(...continued)                                                        
          liability” can be placed in issue in a sec. 6330 collection case.           
          See sec. 6330(c)(2)(B).  However, the underlying liability is not           
          a deficiency, and a sec. 6330 collection case is not a case for             
          the redetermination of a deficiency within the meaning of sec.              
          7463(a).  This is why Congress added sec. 7463(f).  Petitioners             
          have not attempted to contest the underlying liability in this              
          case.                                                                       
               7 In enacting sec. 7463(f), Congress also recognized the               
          distinction between deficiency cases within the purview of sec.             
          7463(a) and cases petitioned under sec. 6015(e), in which                   
          taxpayers seek relief only from joint liability.  Cases brought             
          under sec. 6015(e) have become known as “stand alone” cases                 
          because only the right to spousal relief is in issue.  See                  
          Fernandez v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 324, 329 (2000).  Similarly,            
          Congress has authorized the use of small tax case procedures in             
          employment tax cases “if the amount of employment taxes placed in           
          dispute is $50,000 or less for each calendar quarter involved.”             
          Sec. 7436(c).                                                               





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