00-3335 New Hope Services, Inc. v. U.S.

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“Because appeals are from that preliminary determination, and New Hope never received one, it had no basis in the regulation for requesting an appeals conference. Furthermore, the notification of its appeals rights set forth in IRS Publication 5 is sent with that preliminary determination, and again makes clear that an appeal must be premised upon the findings in the preliminary determination.

“Furthermore, the procedures for perfecting an administrative appeal repeatedly refer to the letter sent to taxpayers with that preliminary determination (‘If you want an Appeals conference, follow the instructions in our letter to you.’ ‘When you request an appeals conference, you may also need to file a formal written protest for a small case request with the office named in our letter to you.’ ‘When a protest is required, send it within the time limit specified in the letter you received. [emphasis in original]’) It is difficult to see how a person lacking the preliminary determination or the letter setting forth the instructions, appropriate office, and time limits, could properly pursue an administrative appeal.”

Reversed and remanded.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Hamilton, J., Rovner, J.