SECTION 2. BACKGROUND

.01 Section 6601 requires the payment of interest on any amount of tax imposed by title 26 that is not paid on or before the last date prescribed for payment of the tax. Section 6151 provides that the date for payment of tax is generally the date a taxpayer must file a return reporting the tax (determined without regard to any extension of time for filing the return). Section 6601(e) provides that interest shall be assessed, collected, and paid in the same manner as tax, and that any reference to tax in title 26 (except subchapter B of chapter 63, relating to deficiency procedures) shall be deemed also to refer to interest imposed under section 6601.

.02 Section 6404(a) authorizes the Secretary to abate an assessment of tax or any liability in respect thereof (including interest) if the assessment is excessive in amount, untimely, or erroneously or illegally assessed. Notwithstanding the authority provided by section 6404(a), section 6404(b) precludes taxpayers from filing administrative claims for abatement with respect to income, estate, or gift taxes. For other types of tax, taxpayers may file an administrative claim requesting that the Service abate an improper assessment as provided in section 301.6404–1(c) of the Regulations on Procedure and Administration.

.03 Section 6404(e) authorizes the Secretary to abate an assessment of interest

where the interest is attributable in whole or in part to any unreasonable error or delay by an officer or employee of the Service in performing a ministerial or managerial act. Section 6404(e) provides a limited exception to the general prohibition against claims for abatement with respect to income, estate, or gift taxes that is set forth in section 6404(b). See Urbana v. Commissioner, 122 T.C. 384, 389–90 & n.4 (2004); see also Treas. Reg. § 301.6404–2 (describing interest abatement rules under section 6404(e)).

.04 Except as provided in section 6404(g)(2), in the case of an individual who files an income tax return, section 6404(g)(1) suspends the accrual of interest and time-sensitive penalties if the Secretary does not provide notice to the taxpayer specifically stating the amount due and the basis for the liability within 18 months of the later of the due date of the return (without regard to extensions) or the date the return was filed.

Section 6404(g) was enacted as part of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pub. L. No. 105–206, 112 Stat. 685, and relates to interest suspension, rather than interest abatement. Nothing in the statute or its legislative history suggests that Congress intended section 6404(g) to create an exception to the general rule of section 6404(b) that prohibits taxpayers from filing claims for abatement with respect to income tax. See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 599, 105 ^th Cong. 2d Sess. 259–60 (1998). Compare id. with H.R. Rep. No. 506, 104 ^th Cong. 2d Sess. 27–28 (1996) (discussing amendments to section 6404(e) and an expansion of the circumstances in which interest can be abated and abatement determinations can be reviewed). Accordingly, claims for abatement of interest assessed for periods during which interest should have been suspended under section 6404(g) are barred by section 6404(b). .05 Section 6404(h) provides the United States Tax Court with jurisdiction over any action brought by a taxpayer who meets the requirements of section 7430(c)(4)(A)(ii) to determine whether the Secretary’s failure to abate interest was an abuse of discretion, and to order an abatement. The action must be brought within 180 days after the date of mailing

2005–28 I.R.B. 81 July 11, 2005

reported by such person on such return for the period covered by the return.

Section 301.6061–1(b) of the Regulations on Procedure and Administration provides that the Secretary may prescribe in forms, instructions, or other appropriate guidance, the method of signing any return, statement, or other document required to be made under any provision of the internal revenue laws or regulations.