- 6 - We have jurisdiction to determine whether the Commissioner’s decision not to abate interest was an abuse of discretion. Sec. 6404(h)(1). In order to prevail, the taxpayers must prove that the Commissioner abused his discretion by exercising this discretion arbitrarily, capriciously, or without sound basis in fact or law. Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. 19, 23 (1999). Thus, the taxpayers bear the burden of proof. Rule 142(a). Petitioners argue that the delay in their payment of their 1997 tax liability is attributable to the IRS’s unreasonable error in sending the notice of delinquency to Mrs. Grandelli under an incorrect name and to an incorrect address and the IRS’s unreasonable delay in sending the notice of delinquency to petitioners’ correct address. Petitioners argue that they reasonably believed that their refund for 1996, as shown on their amended 1996 return, would satisfy their 1997 tax liability. Had they learned earlier that the IRS had not received either their amended 1996 return or their original 1997 return, petitioners might have been able to mail those returns again and receive credit for their $1,160 overpayment in 1996 and avoid paying several years’ worth of interest. Respondent argues that he did not abuse his discretion, for two reasons. First, respondent argues that the first time that the IRS contacted petitioners in writing with respect to a deficiency or payment was on March 9, 2002, when the IRS issuedPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NextLast modified: March 27, 2008