Marvin L. White and Phyllis White v. Commissioner ( 1997 )

109 T.C. No. 4UNITED STATES TAX COURT
MARVIN L. WHITE AND PHYLLIS WHITE, Petitioners v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Docket No. 20635-96. Filed August 5, 1997.
Ps submitted requests for abatement of interest to
the IRS, which were denied prior to July 30, 1996, the
date of enactment of sec. 6404(g), I.R.C. Ps now seek
review of the failure to abate interest pursuant to
sec. 6404(g).
Held: We lack jurisdiction to review the denial
of Ps' requests for abatement of interest.
Robert L. White, for petitioners.
Christal Hillstead, for respondent.
OPINION
COHEN, Chief Judge: This case is before us on respondent's
Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction. The issue is whether
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the Court has jurisdiction pursuant to section 6404(g) to review
respondent's determination denying petitioners' claims for
abatement of interest. The resolution of this issue turns on the
effective date of section 6404(g). Unless otherwise indicated,
all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect
at the time the petition was filed.
Background
Petitioners are husband and wife who resided in Wenatchee,
Washington, at the time the petition was filed.
Following the conclusion of deficiency proceedings, on
December 17, 1992, respondent made assessments of deficiencies
and additions to tax for the taxable years 1979 through 1984.
Petitioners paid $387,429.58, on April 8, 1993, which represented
a payment of the assessments indicated as due on their 1979
through 1984 accounts as calculated by a revenue officer who was
assigned for collection. It was subsequently determined that
additional interest was due. Petitioners contacted an Internal
Revenue Service Problem Resolution Office and, on February 25,
1994, that office sent a letter to petitioners that included a
computation of interest to March 14, 1994. These computations
omitted computations of interest accruing from April 8, 1993, to
March 14, 1994.
On December 26, 1994, petitioners filed claims with the
Fresno Service Center requesting abatement of interest for the
taxable years 1979 through 1984. The Fresno Service Center sent
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a letter to petitioners denying abatement of the total amount of
interest requested in petitioners' claims but in the letter
stated that no interest would be charged for the period from
March 24, 1993, to March 14, 1994. This letter also advised
petitioners of their right to appeal the Service Center's
determination to an Internal Revenue Service Appeals Office.
Petitioners exercised their appeal rights.
On January 26, 1996, a final determination letter was issued
by the Appeals Office stating that petitioners' claims for
abatement of interest for the taxable years 1979 through 1984
were disallowed except that interest was abated for the period
from March 24, 1993, to March 14, 1994. Shortly thereafter, a
computation of the amounts of unabated interest was made by a
revenue officer on March 28, 1996, pursuant to petitioners'
request.
On September 23, 1996, petitioners filed the petition
commencing this case. Therein petitioners request that the Court
abate the interest assessed for the taxable years 1980, 1981, and
1983. Attached to the petition is a copy of the revenue
officer's letter dated March 28, 1996, including an interest
computation. Other attachments include a second letter from a
revenue officer dated May 16, 1996, and a letter from an Appeals
officer dated November 30, 1995. All of the attachments concern
the computation of interest and provide explanations of the
amounts of interest previously assessed for the taxable years
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1979 through 1984, including the amounts abated for the period
from March 24, 1993, to March 14, 1994.
On November 20, 1996, respondent moved to dismiss this case
on the ground that petitioners' requests for abatement of
interest were submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
prior to July 31, 1996, and, alternatively, on the ground that
the petition was not timely filed within the time prescribed by
section 6404(g).
Discussion
The issue for decision is whether the Court has jurisdiction
to review the denial of petitioners' requests for abatement of
interest. Resolution of the issue turns on the effective date of
section 6404(g), added by section 302(a) of the Taxpayer Bill of
Rights 2 (TBOR 2), Pub. L. 104-168, 110 Stat. 1452, 1457 (1996).
Section 6404(g) authorizes actions in this Court for review of
respondent's denial of a request for abatement of interest under
section 6404. That section provides, in pertinent part, as
follows:
(g) Review of Denial of Request for Abatement of
Interest.--
(1) In General.--The Tax Court shall have
jurisdiction over any action brought by a taxpayer
who meets the requirements referred to in section
7430(c)(4)(A)(ii) to determine whether the
Secretary's failure to abate interest under this
section was an abuse of discretion, and may order
an abatement, if such action is brought within 180
days after the date of the mailing of the
Secretary's final determination not to abate such
interest.
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Section 302(b) of TBOR 2 provides that section 6404(g) "applies
to requests for abatement after the date of the enactment of this
Act." TBOR 2 was enacted on July 30, 1996.
Respondent contends that we lack jurisdiction in this case
because petitioners submitted their requests for abatement prior
to July 31, 1996. According to respondent, the effective date
provision of TBOR 2 section 302(b) provides that jurisdiction is
only applicable to requests for abatement that are submitted
after July 30, 1996. Alternatively, respondent contends that we
lack jurisdiction on the ground that the petition was not timely
filed within 180 days of the mailing of the final notice
disallowing petitioners' claim for abatement of interest.
Petitioners' primary position is that their requests for
abatement of interest are continuous and ongoing and that their
petition, itself, is a further request for abatement. In
addition, they contend that the petition was timely filed within
180 days from the mailing of the final determination by the
Commissioner not to abate interest. Finally, petitioners submit
that they are entitled to make subsequent requests for abatement
of interest "for the purposes of qualifying as a request for
abatement made after July 30, 1996."
In Banat v. Commissioner, 109 T.C. ___ (Aug. 5, 1997), we
considered the question of the Court's jurisdiction to review the
Commissioner's denial of a request for abatement of interest
where the request was filed prior to July 31, 1996, but denied
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after July 30, 1996. In that case, we concluded that TBOR 2
section 302(b), which establishes the effective date of section
6404(g), does not preclude the consideration of requests for
abatement of interest pending on July 31, 1996. In reaching that
conclusion, we rejected the Commissioner's position that the
Court lacks jurisdiction to review the Commissioner's denial of
requests for abatement of interest that were filed with the IRS
prior to July 31, 1996, in situations where the requests are
continuing, considered, and denied after the date of enactment of
TBOR 2.
This case, unlike Banat v. Commissioner, supra, does not
involve a request for abatement of interest pending after
July 30, 1996; rather, petitioners' requests for abatement were
made and denied prior to July 31, 1996. Consistent with our
holding in Banat, we conclude that section 6404(g) is not
applicable to requests for abatement made and denied prior to the
date of the enactment of TBOR 2. Accordingly, we hold that we
lack jurisdiction to review the denial of petitioners' requests
for abatement.
In reaching this conclusion, we have considered petitioners'
arguments that their requests for abatement of interest are
"continuing and ongoing"; that the petition, itself, is a request
for abatement of interest; and that they may resubmit their
requests for abatement of interest in order to qualify as
"requests for abatement after the date of the enactment". These
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arguments are to no avail. As pointed out on numerous occasions,
the jurisdiction of this Court is strictly limited by statute,
and we may not enlarge upon that statutory jurisdiction. Breman
v. Commissioner, 66 T.C. 61, 66 (1976). Our statutory authority
pursuant to section 6404(g) is to decide whether the
Commissioner's final determination not to abate interest was an
abuse of discretion, and that section does not authorize us
independently to receive and consider requests for abatement of
interest. Further, future requests for abatement of interest
which petitioners may or may not file with the IRS have no
bearing on our jurisdiction in this proceeding.
Because petitioners' requests for abatement of interest were
made and denied prior to the enactment of section 6404(g), there
is no applicable 180-day period.
To reflect the foregoing,
An order of dismissal for lack
of jurisdiction will be entered.