Administrative Law and Judicial Review of Tax Collection Decisions

Within most areas of administrative law, courts review decisions of the administrative agency for abuse of discretion, based on the administrative record. This is generally not the case when final decision of the Internal Revenue Service regarding collection actions are subject to judicial review. Although at least one district court and one circuit court of appeals would applied record review to judicial review of collection actions, the United States Tax Court has concluded that it is permitted to use de novo review in all cases because it is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. This article explores ways in which this reasoning is likely to make the Tax Court's job harder and is ultimately unlikely to change the outcome in most cases