Kristin E. Hickman (Minnesota; Google Scholar), The Federal Tax System's Administrative Law Woes Grow, 41 A.B.A. Tax Times __ (2022):

Recent court decisions have substantial implications for litigation over past tax regulatory actions and for future tax administrative practices. This article describes a circuit split between the Eleventh Circuit in Hewitt v. Comm'r and the Sixth Circuit in Oakbrook Land Holdings, LLC v. Comm'r over whether longstanding conservation easement regulations under section 170A were procedurally flawed under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because the IRS failed to respond adequately to taxpayer comments. The article also discusses Sixth Circuit and federal district court decisions in Mann Construction, Inc. v. United States and CIC Services, LLC v. IRS invalidating IRS Notices that imposed information reporting requirements on private parties under section 6707A because the IRS did not use APA notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures in issuing them.

Finally, the article addresses a federal district court order granting partial summary judgment for the taxpayer in Liberty Global, LLC v. United States and holding that the IRS lacked good cause for forgoing APA notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures before issuing temporary Treasury regulations under section 245A.