- 20 - liability for the amount has been fully satisfied. Thus respondent argues, if respondent were to accept an offer-in- compromise and the liabilities were thereby fully satisfied, he would jeopardize any secured claim to the bankruptcy distribution. Accordingly, as respondent’s counsel argues, an offer-in-compromise will not be accepted while a bankruptcy is pending if the offer is less than the amount he reasonably stands to receive when the bankruptcy distribution occurs. We believe, however, that respondent’s risk, or at least his perceived risk, goes beyond simply the release of any secured claim he has to the bankruptcy distribution. If an offer-in- compromise must include all of the outstanding liabilities of the taxpayer, then acceptance and satisfaction of the offer would risk, if not extinguish, all claims the Commissioner had to the bankruptcy assets. The administrative record suggests it was this more generalized risk, to all of respondent’s claims, that concerned Mr. Conte in evaluating petitioners’ offer-in- compromise. Nonetheless, petitioners fail to point to any authority to suggest that respondent’s position that accepting an offer-in-compromise jeopardized the bankruptcy distribution was without legal basis, and the Court knows of none. In furtherance of their argument that the bankruptcy distribution was not at risk, petitioners highlight their offer to relinquish any claim to the bankruptcy distribution for thePage: Previous 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NextLast modified: March 27, 2008