4.7 Pre-Trial and Trial

About 90% of the cases are settled without trial. If the taxpayer didn’t appeal before, the IRS Appeals Office will consider the case.1  Cases are usually at the Appeals Office for about 6 months. The taxpayer or enrolled attorney will be contacted by the IRS Appeals Officer. You should participate in the Appeals Office conference, which usually takes place by telephone. Most cases are settled with an IRS Appeals Officer. If settlement is not reached with the Appeals Officer, local IRS District Counsel will also work to settle the case. If a settlement is reached with the Appeals Office or District Counsel, the District Counsel will prepare a Stipulated Tax Court Decision for signature by all parties and the judge.

If the parties are not able to reach a settlement, the Tax Court will set the case for trial at the next Tax Court Calendar Call in your location. The parties will receive a Pre-Trial Order when a case is set for a Calendar Call, usually about 2 months before the date. The Calendar Call is a day when all the cases set for trial in a particular location are called and all parties must be present. The date and time for trial will be set by the judge, usually within that week. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tax Court switched to virtual hearings using Zoom. The court now allows parties to participate in trials and hearings in person, but they can also agree to a virtual hearing by submitting a request to the Court; agreement of all parties is required for a virtual hearing.

• 1Rev. Proc. 87-24, 1987-22 I.R.B. 23.