Quality Pers. Servs. v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

Full title: QUALITY PERSONNEL SERVICES, INC., Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL…

Court: United States Tax Court

Date published: Jan 17, 2024

No. 19541-22L (U.S.T.C. Jan. 17, 2024)

Opinion

19541-22L

01-17-2024

QUALITY PERSONNEL SERVICES, INC., Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Mark V. Holmes, Judge

ORDER

Mark V. Holmes, Judge

This collection-due-process case is on the February 12, 2024 Los Angeles, California trial calendar. Respondent moved without objection on January 11, 2024 to continue the case a second time. We spoke with the parties today to discuss progress, and learned that they are working together to settle the case. The Court is concerned that they are doing so in a way that is unusual in a CDP case. Our first concern is that the parites did not file a stipulated administrative record with the Court within 45 days of service of the notice setting the case for trial, see Rule 93(a), either when the case was first set for trial or when it was reset for trial last fall.

Our second concern arises from the fact that this case is about penalties that petitioner allegedly owes for failure to file various information returns. Petitioner is contesting its liability for these penalties. The parties are correct that the IRS has the authority to abate any such penalties, but we cautioned that if they are unable to reach a settlement on their own, judicial review in a CDP case is ordinarily limited to analyzing the administrative record for an abuse of discretion and whether the appeals officer conducting that hearing adequately verified that all required legal and administrative procedures for assessment were followed. It is not ordinarily a forum for redetermining that liability.

With these cautions in mind, it is

ORDERED that respondent's January 11, 2024 motion to continue is granted in that this case is stricken from the Court's February 12, 2024 Los Angeles, California trial calendar. It is also

ORDERED that this division of the Court retains jurisdiction. It is also

ORDERED that on or before March 18, 2024 the parties or respondent shall file the administrative record as required by Rule 93(a) status report on the parties' progress in settling at IRS Appeals. It is also

ORDERED that on or before March 18, 2024 the parties shall file a status report on their progress in settling this case.