Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

An IRS settlement officer did not abuse her discretion when she issued a notice of determination without considering a married couple's offer-in-compromise (OIC) that was based only on doubt as to liability. Because the taxpayers received a notice of deficiency and had an opportunity to challenge the underlying tax liability before the Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing, but failed to do so, Code Sec. 6330 barred them from challenging the amount of the liability at the CDP hearing. Therefore, the settlement officer properly refused to consider the taxpayers' OIC that was based on doubt as to liability since such the OIC was a prohibited challenge to the underlying tax liability. The settlement officer exercised discretion in a reasonable way by issuing a notice of determination that sustained the lien but postponed the collection by levy until other IRS employees considered the OIC and various late-filed returns of the taxpayers.
P.P. Baltic, 129 TC No. 19, Dec. 57,213
Other References:
Code Sec. 6330
CCH Reference - 2007FED ¶38,184.12
Tax Research Consultant
CCH Reference - TRC IRS: 51,056