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that request is equivalent to a final determination not to abate
interest for purposes of section 6404(h).8 In the alternative,
petitioners argue that respondent's Letter 853C denying
petitioners' request for removal of a section 6651(a)(1) addition
for 1995 is sufficient to confer jurisdiction on this Court
because the letter's silence concerning interest abatement
constitutes a denial.
To resolve our jurisdiction, we must determine whether
respondent has made a final determination not to abate interest
within the meaning of section 6404(h). We note at the outset
that petitioners' June 2002 letter clearly and unequivocally
requested an abatement of interest with respect to petitioners'
1994 and 1995 income tax liabilities, although the request was
not made on a Form 843, as required in section 301.6404-1(c),
Proced. & Admin. Regs. We find it unnecessary to decide whether
petitioners' letter was an adequate substitute for a Form 843,
however, because even assuming it was, a decision in respondent's
favor would still follow.
Petitioners' first argument is that we should treat
respondent's failure to issue any response to their request for
interest abatement as a "final determination" for section 6404(h)
8 Petitioners further note that respondent's issuance of
demands for payments of interest subsequent to their request,
including the Automated Collection System notice of Dec. 23,
2004, demonstrates that respondent made a determination not to
abate interest.
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