A unanimous Supreme Court today ruled that the Tax Court has exclusive jurisdiction to hear claims by federal taxpayers seeking relief from an IRS assessment of interest on taxes due under §6404(e)(1). Hinck v. United States (No. 06-376):
Bad things happen if you fail to pay federal income taxes when due. One of them is that interest accrues on the unpaid amount. Sometimes it takes a while for the IRS to determine that taxesshould have been paid that were not. Section 6404(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code permits the Secretary of theTreasury to abate interest—to forgive it, partially or in whole—if the assessment of interest on a deficiency is attributable to unreasonable error or delay on the part of the IRS. Section 6404(h) allows for judicial review of the Secretary’s decision not to grant such relief. The question presented in this case is whether this review may be obtained only in the Tax Court, or may also be secured in the district courts and the Court of Federal Claims. We hold that the Tax Court provides the exclusive forum for judicial review of a refusal to abate interest under § 6404(e)(1), and affirm.
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