T.C. Memo. 2012-31

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

JOHN HANCOCK AND LYNN HANCOCK, Petitioners v.

COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 9743-10. Filed February 1, 2012.

John Hancock and Lynn Hancock, pro sese.

Alan Edward Staines, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

GOEKE, Judge: Respondent issued a document entitled “Full Disallowance--

Final Determination” which denied petitioners' request for abatement of interest on
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their income tax liabilities for 2005 and 2006. Petitioners seek review of this

determination, and we have jurisdiction pursuant to section 6404(h).1

Before assessing and collecting the interest in dispute, respondent had

suspended the accrual of interest for the period beginning July 23, 2008, and ending

November 3, 2008, pursuant to section 6601(c). Respondent has since conceded in

his posttrial brief that petitioners are not liable for the accrual of interest beginning

June 19, 2008,2 and ending November 3, 2008. Accordingly, respondent has

recognized that petitioners are entitled to interest abatement with respect to their

2005 and 2006 taxable years for the period beginning on June 19, 2008, and ending

on July 23, 2008. We must determine whether respondent abused his discretion in

determining that no additional abatement is warranted. For the reasons explained

herein, we find:

1Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code, and all Rule references

are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.

2Respondent mistakenly refers to June 19, 2008, as the day that petitioners

received Form 4549, Income Tax Examination Changes. The Form 4549 was

executed, not received, on that day. Petitioners, in a November 12, 2008, letter to

respondent, clarify that they received the Form 4549 on June 18, 2008. 
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1. Respondent abused his discretion in denying petitioners’ request for an

abatement of interest assessed for the period from November 3, 2008, to April 15,

2009, with respect to petitioners’ 2005 and 2006 tax years; and

2. equitable estoppel does not apply to bar respondent from assessing and

collecting interest due for petitioners’ 2005 and 2006 tax years.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Petitioners resided in California at the time they filed their petition. They

timely filed joint Federal income tax returns for 2005 and 2006. 

By letter dated April 15, 2008, respondent informed petitioners that their

Federal income tax returns for 2005 and 2006 had been selected for examination

(audit). 

On May 30, 2008, respondent received Form 2848, Power of Attorney and

Declaration of Representative, by Roland Biegler, a certified public accountant, to

represent petitioners throughout the audit.3

At the conclusion of the audit on June 18, 2008, respondent presented Mr.

Biegler with a Form 4549 which set forth the audit adjustments determined by the

revenue agent: balances due for petitioners’ 2005 and 2006 tax years of $14,831

3At the onset of the audit petitioners and the revenue agent had an opening

interview which lasted approximately 2 hours. Thereafter, all dealings and

communications were strictly between Mr. Biegler and the revenue agent.
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and $30,343, respectively, and an overpayment for petitioners’ 2007 tax year of

$2,988. Form 4549 also erroneously indicated that petitioners were not liable for

interest computed to July 17, 2008, for their 2005, 2006, and 2007 tax years.4

Mr. Biegler conveyed to petitioners that the calculations of the additional tax

amounts owed were reasonable. In addition, he noted that the zeros in certain

columns indicating that no interest was owed for the tax years at issue, although

unusual in his experience, reflected a good offer and advised petitioners to sign the

Form 4549 and pay the amounts determined. 

Petitioners executed the Form 4549 on June 19, 2008,5 and several days later

paid the deficiencies as adjusted for 2005 and 2006.

4Pursuant to the executed Form 4549, petitioners did not owe any tax for

2007. Accordingly, no interest is at issue for the tax year 2007.

5Directly above the space for the taxpayer’s signature Form 4549 states:

Consent to Assessment and Collection--I do not wish to exercise my

appeal rights with the Internal Revenue Service or to contest in the

United States Tax Court the findings in this report. Therefore, I give

my consent to the immediate assessment and collection of any increase

in tax and penalties, and accept any decrease in tax and penalties

shown above, plus additional interest as provided by law. It is

understood that this report is subject to acceptance by the Area

Director, Area Manager, Speciality Tax Program Chief, or Director of

Field Operations.
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On September 11, 2008, respondent issued a letter to petitioners informing

them that their executed Form 4549 was “reviewed and accepted”. The letter also

stated that respondent did not plan on making any additional changes to petitioners’

joint returns unless they changed a “partnership, S-corporation, trust, or estate tax

return” in which they had an interest. Petitioners believed this ended the matter.

However, on November 3, 2008, respondent sent petitioners a notice and

demand for payment,6 stating that they owed interest on unpaid liabilities for 

their 2005 and 2006 tax years of $1,766 and $2,821, respectively. By letter dated

November 12, 2008, petitioners informed respondent that they disagreed with those

interest charges. 

In a separate letter to respondent dated March 23, 2009, petitioners formally

requested interest abatement and asserted that respondent should honor the executed

Form 4549, which petitioners believed was a settlement agreement excusing them

from the payment of interest with respect to the 2005 and 2006 tax years. 

6The administrative file does not contain a copy of the notice and demand for

payment. However, a copy of petitioners’ letter dated November 12, 2008, refers to

a “letter” from respondent received by petitioners on November 3, 2008. 

Petitioners noted this “letter” reflected that they owed an additional $1,766 and

$2,688 in interest for their 2005 and 2006 tax years, respectively. 
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 Shortly thereafter on April 15, 2009, respondent applied a Federal income

tax refund for petitioners’ 2008 tax year to petitioners’ accounts for 2005 and 2006

in order to satisfy in full the interest due for those years. 

On July 22, 2009, respondent determined that petitioners’ March 23, 2009,

request for the abatement of all interest for their 2005 and 2006 taxable years should

be partially allowed for the period beginning June 17, 2008, and ending April 15,

2009. Respondent presently asserts that this abatement was based on the erroneous

conclusion that petitioners were not informed of the correct amounts of interest due

for the taxable years at issue until April 15, 2009; respondent contends petitioners

were in fact so informed by November 3, 2008.

Petitioners by letter dated August 18, 2009, requested that respondent

reconsider their request for complete abatement of interest for their 2005 and 2006

tax years. On October 27, 2009, respondent issued his Full Disallowance--Final

Determination, which denied both petitioners’ request for complete abatement of

interest for the tax years at issue and found that there were no errors or delays by

respondent within the scope of section 6404(e) during the period from June 23,

2008, to April 15, 2009. 

Petitioners timely filed a petition with this Court asserting that respondent’s

failure to abate interest was an abuse of discretion. At the time of filing the
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petition, petitioners met the requirements of section 7430(c)(4)(A)(ii), satisfying a

prerequisite condition for our jurisdiction. See sec. 6404(h). A trial was held in San

Francisco, California, on March 15, 2011. 

Respondent has since conceded that petitioners are not liable for the accrual

of interest from June 19, 2008, the date petitioners executed their Form 4549

erroneously reflecting that they owned no interest with respect to the 2005 and 2006

taxable years, until November 3, 2008, the date on which respondent issued a 

notice and demand to petitioners.7

OPINION

I. Interest Abatement

Section 6404(e)(1)(A) provides that the Commissioner may, at his discretion,

abate the assessment of interest on any deficiency in tax attributable, in whole or in

part, to any unreasonable error or delay by an IRS officer or employee in performing

a “managerial” or “ministerial” act.8 See Lee v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 145, 148-

7

 Respondent had administratively suspended the accrual of interest for the

period beginning July 23, 2008, and ending November 3, 2008, pursuant to sec.

6601(c), before petitioners’ petition to this Court. 

8Sec. 6404(e) is not intended to be routinely used to avoid payment of

interest; rather, Congress intended abatement of interest only where failure to do so

“would be widely perceived as grossly unfair.” H. R. Rept. No. 99-426, at 844

(1985), 1986-3 C.B. (Vol. 2) 1, 844; S. Rept. No. 99-313, at 208 (1986), 1986-3

(continued...)
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150 (1999); Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. 19, 23 (1999); see also sec.

301.6404-2(b), Proced. & Admin. Regs. We have jurisdiction to determine whether

the failure of the IRS to abate interest was an abuse of discretion. See sec.

6404(h)(1); Urbano v. Commissioner, 122 T.C. 384, 390 (2004).

A “managerial act” is an administrative act which occurs during the

processing of a taxpayer’s case and involves the temporary or permanent loss of

records or the exercise of judgment or discretion relating to management of 

personnel. Sec. 301.6404-2(b)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs. “Ministerial acts”

include procedural or mechanical actions not involving the exercise of judgment or

discretion which occur during the processing of a taxpayer’s case after all

prerequisite action has taken place. Braun v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-

221; sec. 301.6404-2(b)(2), Proced. & Admin. Regs.

Section 6404(e) applies only after the Commissioner has contacted the

taxpayer in writing about the deficiency, and this Court will give due deference to

the Commissioner’s use of discretion. See Rule 280(b); Krugman v. Commissioner,

112 T.C. 230, 239 (1999); Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. at 23. The taxpayer

8

(...continued)

C.B. (Vol. 3) 1, 208.
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bears the burden of proof and in order to meet this burden must establish that the

Commissioner abused his discretion by exercising it arbitrarily, capriciously, or

without sound basis in fact or law. Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. at 23; see

also sec. 6404(h)(1); Rule 142(a). To qualify for abatement of interest, the taxpayer

must: (1) identify an error or delay by the IRS in performing a ministerial or

managerial act; (2) establish a correlation between the error or delay by the IRS and

a specific period for which interest should be abated; and (3) show the taxpayer

would have paid his or her tax liability earlier but for such error or delay. See sec.

6404(e)(1); sec. 301.6404-2, Proced. & Admin. Regs.; Braun v. Commissioner,

T.C. Memo. 2005-221; see also Hill v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-39.

A. Whether Petitioners Established an Error or Delay by Respondent in 

 Performing a Ministerial or Managerial Act

We have previously found that when the Commissioner misinforms taxpayers

as to their total liability for a taxable period, such actions are “ministerial”. 

Harbaugh v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-316; Douponce v. Commissioner,

T.C. Memo. 1999-398; see also sec. 301.6404-2(c), Example (11), Proced. &

Admin. Regs. Respondent concedes that he erroneously provided petitioners with

misleading information regarding interest that accrued on their tax liabilities for
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2005 and 2006. Specifically, respondent asserts he erred when he (1) issued a letter

to petitioners on September 11, 2008, informing them that their executed Form

4549, which indicated that they did not owe interest for the tax years at issue, was

“reviewed and accepted”, and (2) determined on July 22, 2009, that their March 23,

2009, request for abatement of all interest for their 2005 and 2006 tax years should

be partially allowed. In accord with respondent’s concessions, we find that

petitioners have satisfied their initial burden of establishing that respondent erred in

performing ministerial tasks. 

B. Whether Petitioners Established a Correlation Between a Specific Delay

 in Payment and an Error or Delay by Respondent

Section 6404(e) requires that taxpayers not only identify a mistake by the

Commissioner, but also link the mistake to a specific period of delay in payment for

which interest should be abated. See Hill v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-39;

Guerrero v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-201; Braun v. Commissioner, T.C.

Memo. 2005-221. The “requisite correlation between an error or delay attributable

to the Commissioner and a specific period of time is, for the most part, missing

where a taxpayer requests that all interest with respect to the deficiencies be

abated.” Braun v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-221 (citing Donovan v.

Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-220). 
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In Braun v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-221, the taxpayer submitted a

request for abatement of interest, alleging errors and undue delay in the

Commissioner’s consideration of his offer-in-compromise. The taxpayer generally

objected to interest flowing from the tax liabilities at issue without specifically

alleging a period for which interest should be abated. After finding that any error or

delay by the Commissioner was directly attributable to the actions of the taxpayer,

we noted that the taxpayer’s request amounted to a “claim for an exemption from

interest, rather than a claim for abatement of interest.” Id. (citing 

Donovan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-220).

Similarly, in Donovan, we rejected the taxpayer’s blanket assertion that he

was entitled to a complete abatement of interest following his payment of certain tax

deficiencies. We found that the taxpayer’s broad and generally meritless request

failed to establish the necessary correlation between any perceived ministerial error

or delay attributable to the Commissioner9 and a specific time period.

The cases cited supra are inapposite to the present case. Petitioners, unlike

the taxpayers in Braun and Donovan, have in essence equated respondent’s

9We also found that no “ministerial acts” within the meaning of sec. 6404(e)

were performed by the Commissioner.
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admitted ministerial error in calculating their tax liabilities, as reflected on Form

4549, with the period following petitioners’ receipt of the Form 4549. Petitioners

are not merely searching, groundlessly, for an exemption from interest, nor have

they contributed to the many errors by respondent. Instead, petitioners validly seek

an interest abatement on account of respondent’s professed errors.

Petitioners’ inartful attempt to expressly articulate the period for which

interest abatement is warranted is a direct function of the confusion and

inconsistency which pervaded respondent’s actions following petitioners’ execution

of the Form 4549.10 Initially, respondent appeared to agree that no interest accrual

was warranted on petitioners’ deficiencies when he approved the executed Form

4549. In an unexplained change of posture, respondent then issued a notice and

demand to petitioners on November 3, 2008, stating that they owed interest for their

2005 and 2006 tax years. Petitioners, continuing to rely on the executed Form 4549

and uncertain as to the propriety of the notice and demand, subsequently wrote two

letters to respondent seeking clarification of respondent’s position and also

requesting that respondent abide by the terms of the executed Form 4549. During

the period in which petitioners waited for respondent’s official response to their

10At trial, petitioners clarified that they were seeking a full or partial

abatement of interest. 
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letters, respondent applied a tax refund from petitioners’ 2008 tax year to their tax

liabilities at issue, satisfying the liabilities in full. It was only at this point that

petitioners realized that respondent had disregarded what petitioners perceived as

the clear calculations in the executed Form 4945 and instead relied on the

calculations in the November 3, 2008, notice and demand. Respondent’s position

was altered twice thereafter, further complicating matters.

Given the confusion engendered by respondent’s actions, we find that

petitioners’ request for interest abatement is framed by the period following the their

receipt of Form 4549 and ending with the payment in full of the liabilities on April

15, 2009. Respondent’s posttrial brief underscores this point by conceding that he

was in error from the “date the erroneous interest amounts were provided to the

taxpayers until the date on which respondent provided corrected interest amounts.” 

We find that the date respondent unequivocally provided corrected interest amounts

was April 15, 2009. 

Thus, petitioners have satisfied their burden.

C. Whether Petitioners Would Have Paid the Tax Liabilities Earlier But For 

 Respondent’s Error 

Notwithstanding a ministerial or managerial error by the Commissioner, no

abatement is warranted where no earlier payment would have been made. See
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Wright v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-69, aff’d, 125 Fed. Appx. 547 (5th Cir.

2005). We have applied this principle by upholding the Commissioner’s discretion

not to abate interest where the taxpayer failed to establish that he had the financial

resources to satisfy the tax liability when the claimed error occurred. See Harbaugh

v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-316; Spurgin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.

2001-290; Hawksley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-354.

The record is unclear as to whether petitioners had the financial resources to 

pay their liabilities. Respondent has represented that petitioners’ failure to establish

sufficient financial resources precludes the application of section 6404(e). 

Nonetheless, respondent conceded in his posttrial brief:

[R]espondent’s refusal to abate interest which accrued from the date

the erroneous interest amounts were provided to the taxpayers until the

date on which respondent provided corrected interest amounts

constitutes an abuse of discretion, and such interest should be abated.

Here, respondent provided incorrect interest amounts to petitioners on

June 19, 2008, and correct amounts were provided on November 3,

2008. Since respondent suspended interest accruals pursuant to I.R.C.

sec. 6601(c) for the period from July 23, 2008 until November 3, 2008,

petitioners are entitled to interest abatement only for the period from

June 19, 2008 until July 23, 2008, the date on which interest

suspension pursuant to I.R.C. sec. 6601(c) began. [Citations omitted; 

emphasis added.]

 

The argument that petitioners did not present evidence of their ability to pay the

interest liabilities, irrespective of respondent’s error, applied equally to the
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conceded period; yet respondent accepted that he abused his discretion in failing to

abate interest for the period from June 19 to November 3, 2008. As respondent has

abandoned the argument in part, we find as a corollary that he abandoned it in

whole. We need not address it further.

D. Conclusion

We conclude that respondent’s failure to abate interest for petitioners’ 2005

and 2006 tax years for the period beginning November 3, 2008, and ending April

15, 2009, was an abuse of discretion.11

II. Equitable Estoppel

Petitioners’ pleadings appear to assert the doctrine of equitable estoppel

against respondent with the purpose of restricting respondent from assessing all

interest on petitioners’ income tax liabilities for 2005 and 2006. As a preliminary

matter, we note that the Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, and we may

exercise our jurisdiction only to the extent authorized by Congress. See sec. 7442. 

We do not maintain general jurisdiction to decide whether respondent is equitably

estopped from assessing the entirety of petitioners’ accrued interest. Section

6404(h) provides this Court with jurisdiction only to “determine whether the

11Respondent conceded that he abused his discretion in not abating interest

from the period beginning June 19, 2008, to November 3, 2008. As noted supra, the

beginning date for that period should be June 18, 2008. 
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Secretary’s failure to abate interest * * * was an abuse of discretion.” Abatement is

available under section 6404(e) only for periods after the IRS has contacted the

taxpayer in writing with respect to the payment. Harbaugh v. Commissioner, T.C.

Memo. 2003-316; Donovan v . Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-220 (“[S]ection

6404(e)(1) does not provide for the abatement of interest assessed on a deficiency

for the period between the dates that the return is due and the taxpayer is contacted

in writing with respect to the deficiency.”). Accordingly, we do not have

jurisdiction to conclude that interest abatement was warranted for the period before

June 18, 2008, the date of petitioners’ receipt of Form 4549. Our determination is

limited to whether respondent’s refusal to abate interest under section 6404 for the

period following petitioners’ receipt of the Form 4549 constitutes an abuse of

discretion. See sec. 6404(e),(h). In addition to our narrow inquiry, the elements of

“equitable estoppel” are not present here.

“Equitable estoppel is a judicial doctrine that ‘precludes a party from denying

his own acts or representations which induced another to act to his detriment.’” 

Hofstetter v. Commissioner, 98 T.C. 695, 700 (1992) (quoting Graff v.

Commissioner, 74 T.C. 743, 761 (1980), aff’d, 673 F.2d 784 (5th Cir. 1982)). The

doctrine of equitable estoppel is applied against the Commissioner “with utmost

caution and restraint”. Schuster v. Commissioner, 312 F.2d 311, 317 (9th 
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Cir. 1962), aff’g 32 T.C. 998 (1959), and aff’g in part, rev’g in part First W. Bank

& Trust Co. v. Commissioner, 32 T.C. 1017 (1959).

The taxpayer must establish several elements before equitable estoppel will

be applied against the Government. See Norfolk S. Corp. v. Commissioner, 104

T.C. 13, 60 (1995), aff’d,140 F.3d 240 (4th Cir. 1998). In addition to traditional

elements, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to which an appeal in this

case would lie, requires the party seeking to apply the doctrine against the

Government to prove affirmative misconduct. Purcell v. United States, 1 F.3d 932,

939 (9th Cir. 1993). The aggrieved party must prove “‘affirmative misconduct

going beyond mere negligence’” and, even then, “‘estoppel will only apply where

the government’s wrongful act will cause a serious injustice, and the public’s

interest will not suffer undue damage by imposition of the liability’.” Purer v.

United States, 872 F.2d 277, 278 (9th Cir. 1989) (quoting Wagner v. Director,

FEMA, 847 F.2d 515, 519 (9th Cir. 1988)). Affirmative misconduct requires

“ongoing active misrepresentations” or a “pervasive pattern of false promises”, as

opposed to an isolated act of providing misinformation. Purcell, 1 F.3d at 940. 

Affirmative misconduct is a threshold issue to be decided before determining

whether the traditional elements of equitable estoppel are present. Id. at 939.
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Petitioners, while maintaining in their posttrial brief that respondent was

“grossly negligent”, have not asserted any affirmative misconduct or wrongful

action by respondent. Petitioners note that respondent’s revenue agent did not

calculate interest on the Form 4549 and, instead, relied upon the small print on the

form to allow respondent to assess “additional interest as provided by law”. The

revenue agent also testified that he never placed interest on his reports because the

interest calculation program never matched the calculations performed by the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) service centers. Nonetheless, it was the revenue

agent’s expectation that interest would be assessed on petitioners’ unpaid tax

liability.

Respondent has acknowledged making errors in calculating petitioners’

interest and generally displayed a pattern of frustrating inconsistency; however, we

do not feel that respondent’s actions rise to a level beyond negligence.

As petitioners have not proven affirmative misconduct on the part of

respondent, we need not address the traditional conditions for application of

equitable estoppel. See Estate of Telesmanich v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2011-

181; Miller v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-55 (citing Purcell, 1 F.3d at 939).
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III. Conclusion

We find that (1) respondent abused his discretion in declining to abate interest

from November 3, 2008, to April 15, 2009; and (2) equitable estoppel does not

apply to bar respondent from assessing and collecting interest due for petitioners’

2005 and 2006 tax years.

In reaching our holdings herein, we have considered all arguments made, and,

to the extent not mentioned above, we conclude they are moot, irrelevant, or without

merit. 

To reflect the foregoing,

An appropriate decision will be

entered.