Lee Argabright Norma J. Argabright v. United States

This is an action by taxpayers seeking abatement of interest and penalty interest on the ground that IRS personnel delayed in providing them with settlement documentation that the IRS had provided to similarly situated taxpayers. The district court dismissed the action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm. We join our sister circuits in concluding that decisions to abate interest under Section 6404(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code are committed to agency discretion by law, precluding judicial review.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a number of taxpayers, including the plaintiffs in the district court action below, invested in a tax shelter known as Wilpon and claimed certain deductions against their income. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS” or “Commissioner”) disallowed the deductions; asserted a deficiency in the income taxes of the investors, and assessed interest and penalties against them. The investors filed petitions in Tax Court seeking a redetermination of the deficiencies, interest, and penalties.

According to the allegations set forth in the…