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Respondent initially scheduled a telephone hearing in
response to petitioner’s request. Petitioner, however, indicated
that she would prefer a face-to-face hearing. In order to
accommodate her preference, the place of the hearing was changed
to a location more convenient to petitioner’s residence. Several
face-to-face hearing dates were scheduled, but petitioner, who at
the time was employed by the Department of Homeland Security and
assigned to assist Hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi, was
away from home and not available on any of the dates that the
hearings were scheduled. Ultimately, a telephone hearing was
conducted.
During the telephone hearing, petitioner took a position
consistent with the position taken in her affidavit and request
for an administrative hearing; i.e., the liability reported on
her 1995 return was fully paid at the time the return was filed.
Petitioner’s entitlement to an abatement of interest or additions
to tax was not considered during the administrative hearing.
The settlement officer that conducted the administrative
hearing was unwilling to accept petitioner’s uncorroborated claim
that her 1995 tax liability was fully paid. The settlement
officer asked petitioner to provide a copy of a canceled check or
bank statement evidencing the payment, but petitioner explained
that she could not obtain either because the bank had gone out of
business or merged with a different bank. In the absence of any
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Last modified: November 10, 2007