Decision will be entered for respondent.
HAINES,
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. Those exhibits attached to the stipulation which were found admissible are incorporated by this reference. Petitioner resided in California when the petition was filed.
Respondent mailed a final notice of intent to 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 287">*288 levy (levy notice) to petitioner for trust fund recovery penalties under
*280 The IRS Appeals Office assigned a settlement officer to conduct petitioner's
Respondent mailed petitioner a determination notice sustaining the proposed collection action for the periods at issue. In evaluating petitioner's OIC the settlement officer determined that petitioner and his spouse had monthly income from Social Security benefits and pension benefits of $4,178, and monthly allowable expenses of $3,400, which exceeded the amount of expenses petitioner claimed in his OIC proposal. She also determined petitioner had net realizable equity in assets of $9,210. On the basis of these calculations, she determined petitioner had a reasonable collection potential of $97,902.
*281 The determination notice included a note in which the settlement officer stated petitioner and his spouse would likely deplete their pension benefits before the statutory period for collection ended because of the rate at which they had been drawing on those benefits. Accounting for this circumstance, the settlement officer provided an alternative calculation of petitioner's reasonable collection potential. As part of that calculation, she found 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 287">*290 the rate at which petitioner and his spouse had previously depleted their pension benefits over an extended period of months. She estimated that petitioner and his spouse's monthly income from the pension benefits would continue for 35 months. Using a 35-month term and holding all other variables from her initial calculation constant, she calculated that petitioner had a reasonable collection potential of $36,440, more than three times petitioner's OIC.
Petitioner filed a petition with this Court contesting the determination notice.
Petitioner conceded at trial that the underlying liabilities are not at issue. We therefore review the Appeals Office's determination for abuse of discretion.
The Secretary may compromise a tax liability based on doubt as to collectibility where the taxpayer's assets and income are less than the full amount of the assessed liability.
Petitioner offered $12,000 to settle his outstanding tax liabilities, which were estimated to exceed $173,000. The settlement officer reviewed the information submitted by petitioner during the hearing, determined that petitioner had a reasonable collection potential of $97,902, and rejected petitioner's OIC. Petitioner claims that the settlement officer erred in calculating his reasonable collection potential because her calculation failed to take into account that the pension benefits of petitioner and his spouse would be depleted to cover living expenses before the statutory period for collection expired.
The settlement officer recognized that petitioner and his spouse would likely deplete their pension benefits before the statutory period for collection ended. She did an alternative calculation taking this circumstance into account and found that petitioner had a reasonable collection potential of $36,440, more 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 287">*293 than three times petitioner's $12,000 OIC. Moreover, petitioner did not show that *284 he presented information to the settlement officer regarding "special circumstances" that would justify her accepting his OIC. Accordingly, we find the settlement officer did not abuse her discretion in rejecting petitioner's OIC.
Petitioner also asserted in his petition and his pretrial memorandum that the settlement officer abused her discretion by refusing to allow him to submit an installment agreement proposal in addition to his OIC. Petitioner did not stipulate facts, present admissible evidence, or otherwise address this issue at trial. Accordingly, the issue is deemed conceded.
In conclusion, petitioner failed to establish that the settlement officer abused her discretion, and respondent may proceed with the proposed levy action.
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,
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.↩
2. Doubt as to liability and doubt as to effective tax administration are not at issue in this case.↩
3. In general reasonable collection potential is "calculated by multiplying a taxpayer's monthly income available to pay taxes by the number of months remaining in the statutory period for collection, and adding to that product the realizable net equity in the taxpayer's assets."