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IRC 7122

The Tax Court ruled in Duane Whittaker and Candace Whittaker v. Comm’r of Internal Revenue, T.C. Memo 2023-59, filed May 15, 2023 that an IRS Settlement Officer had abused her discretion when calculating the Reasonable Collection Potential (RCP) of the taxpayers while reviewing an Offer in Compromise as a collection alternative in the context of a Collection Due Process hearing. The Court remanded the matter to the Appeals Office to consider updated financials and other directives of the Court in resolution of the matter. Taxpayers owed approximately $50,000 at submission of the Offer in Compromise. The issue before the Court was whether the IRS abused its discretion by failing to adequately consider: 1) the taxpayers’ reliance on their retirement account for income, 2) the special circumstances that they raised – specifically that they were near retirement and unable to borrow against their home, and 3) the change in their financial situation due to the pandemic. In regards to the retirement income, the taxpayers argued that under the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) and under Treasury Regulation section 301.7122-1(c)(3)(iii)(example 2), that the IRS may characterize retirement funds as income, rather than equity, when the taxpayer is within one year of retirement and they need the funds for necessary living expenses. The Court indicated that even though the Settlement Officer made reference to this issue in the administrative record, the analysis did not make it into the determination notice from the Settlement Officer. On the issue of home equity, the taxpayers indicated they would have problems borrowing because the assessed value was not reflective of the appraised value based on the condition of the home. They offered to obtain more information for the Settlement Officer, but instead of asking for that information, the Settlement Officer merely indicated that she would not remove the equity in the home from the calculation of RCP. The Court concluded that the Settlement Officer’s conclusion that the taxpayers could tap the equity of the home was erroneous as their evidence was not, in fact, reviewed. And therefore, the Settlement Officer’s reliance on the equity to calculate the Reasonable Collection Potential was an abuse of discretion. Though the Court did not necessarily indicate that the taxpayers had sound positions on the issues they raised, this opinion should have a beneficial effect on how closely Settlement Officers address Reasonable Collection Potential in that it would be detrimental to the IRS to not inquire further about issues like these and document the provision, or lack of provision, of further evidence by the taxpayer.

RRA98 section 1001(a)(4)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled on June 8, 2021 in Jason Stewart, Kristy Stewart v. Comm’r of Internal Revenue at Docket No. 19-3786 that the taxpayer was not entitled to a new Appeals hearing because the Revenue Officer included notes and correspondence about a meeting with the taxpayers’ attorney in the official file that was later made available to the Appeals Settlement Officer who ultimately reviewed the case. Over time there has been an attempt to “preserve” the independence of settlement officers in appeals from other parts of the IRS, the Court explains. The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA98), further attempted to secure this goal. Independence generally includes separation of investigation and adjudicative functions. It has been ruled that certain comments and statements, particularly about the credibility or demeanor of a taxpayer or their representative and their level of cooperation, are generally prohibited. In this case, the Revenue Officer appeared unannounced at the taxpayers’ attorney’s office. Notes about the meeting, including comments from the lawyer that he would not supply financial information to the Revenue Officer on request, but would only supply it to IRS Appeals, were included in the file for Appeal’s review. A letter from the Revenue Officer was placed in the administrative file the same day indicating that the lawyer refused to provide financial information and directed the IRS Officer to leave. The taxpayers argued that they should have a new hearing and further that the Collections Division should have ceased any continued pursuit of financial information once the Appeal’s request was submitted. The Court disagreed. Relying on an exception set out in Rev. Proc. 2012-18, the Court ruled that the inclusion of the notes was allowed because they were contemporaneous statements pertinent to consideration of the case. These statements were deemed reminders of the need to get financials and what kind of effort might be required to do so. Additionally, the Court ruled that it was not inappropriate to continue investigation after the filing of a due-process hearing. Rather, the Court ruled that even though Appeals was involved, it would be necessary for the field Revenue Officer to continue to gather financial information and work with the taxpayer, so that the IRS could properly evaluate matters during the Appeal’s hearing.