- 5 - check whether the Commissioner properly filed the lien, and take a second look at whether the filing should be sustained. This hearing is also a taxpayer’s chance to raise an innocent-spouse defense, offer collection alternatives, or demonstrate that the Government’s collection effort is overly intrusive even after taking into account the need to efficiently collect taxes. Scharringhausen isn’t challenging his underlying tax liability, so we review the Commissioner’s determination to see if he abused his discretion. See Sego v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 604, 610 (2000); Goza v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 176, 182 (2000). Courts generally hold that a decisionmaker abuses his discretion “when [he] makes an error of law * * * or rests [his] determination on a clearly erroneous finding of fact * * * [or] ‘applies the correct law to facts which are not clearly erroneous but rules in an irrational manner’.” United States v. Sherburne, 249 F.3d 1121, 1125-26 (9th Cir. 2001) (quoting Friedkin v. Sternberg, 85 F.3d 1400, 1405 (9th Cir. 1996)); see also Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 402-03 (1990) (same). We can distill Scharringhausen’s objections to the notice of determination into two: that the Commissioner didn’t follow correct procedures in filing the lien, and that the Commissioner should have accepted his first offer to compromise the taxes involved.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NextLast modified: March 27, 2008