Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 53 Part 1.djvu/603

 XCVIII CODIFICATION OF INTERNAL REVENUE LAWS (c) The allowance or disallowance of the Commissioner of a claim for refund under this section shall be final, unless within three months after the date of mailing by registered mail by the Commissioner of notice that a claim for refund of any such amount has been disallowed, in whole or in part, the claimant files a petition with the Board requesting a hearing on the merits of his claim, in whole or in part. Upon the filing of any such petition, the claimant shall be entitled to a hearing as provided herein, and within three months after the date of such filing the Board shall set a date for such hearing which shall be not more than two years from the date of filing of the petition. Such hearing shall be held in Washington, District of Columbia, or in the collection district in which is located the principal place of business of the claimant, as the claimant may designate in his petition, or in any place which may be designated by the Com- missioner and the claimant by stipulation in writing, and may be continued from day to day. The Board shall notify the claimant and the Commissioner of the time and place set for such hearing by registered mail. (d) Each such hearing shall be conducted by a presiding officer who shall be a member of the Board or an officer or employee of the Treasury Department designated a presiding officer by the Secretary of the Treasury, and assigned by the Board to preside at such hearing, and shall be open to the public. The proceedings in such hearings shall be conducted in accordance with such rules of practice and procedure (other than rules of evidence) as the Board may pre- scribe with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, and in accordance with the rules of evidence applicable in courts of equity of the District of Columbia. The claimant and the Commissioner shall be entitled to be repre- sented by counsel, to have witnesses subpenaed, and to examine and cross- examine witnesses. The presiding officer shall have authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, rule on questions of procedure and the admissibility of evidence, and to require by subpena, signed by any member of the Board, the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production of all necessary returns, books, papers, records, correspondence, memoranda, and other evidence, from any place in the United States at any designated place of hearing, and to require the taking of a deposition by any designated individual competent to administer oaths. Any witness summoned or whose deposition is taken pur- suant to this section shall receive the same fees and mileage as witnesses in the courts of the United States. (e) The presiding officers shall recommend findings of fact and a decision to the Board or the proper division thereof within six months after the conclusion of the hearing. Briefs with respect to such recommendations may be submitted to the Board or such division on behalf of the Commissioner and the claimant within thirty days after such recommendations have been made, unless such time is extended by the Board or such division. Except upon specific order of the chairman of the Board, no oral argument may be presented to the Board or such division after the conclusion of the hearing. The Board or a division shall make its findings of fact and decision in writing as quickly as practicable. The findings of fact and the decision of a division shall become the findings of fact and decision of the Board within thirty days after they have been made by the division, unless within such period, the chairman has directed that such findings and decision shall be reviewed by the Board. The findings and decision of a division shall not be a part of the record in any case in which the chair- man directs that such findings and decision shall be reviewed by the Board. Copies of the findings of fact and decision of the Board shall be mailed to the claimant and the Commissioner by registered mail. (f) The Board, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, is au- thorized to draw up a table of costs and fees relating to such hearings, and the preparation of transcripts of record thereof, not to exceed with respect to any one item those charged in the Supreme Court of the United States. Such costs and fees shall be paid by the claimant and be collected in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Board, with the approval of the Secretary. If the hearing provided herein results in a modification of the allowance or disallowance of the Commissioner, such costs shall be returned to the claimant. (g) A review of the decision of the Board, made after the hearing provided in this section, may be obtained by the claimant or Commissioner by filing a petition for review in the Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States within any circuit wherein such claimant resides, or has his principal place of busi- ness, or, if none, in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, or any such court which may be designated by the Commissioner and the claimant by stipulation in writing, within three months after the date of the mailing to the claimant and the Commissioner of the copy of the findings and decision of the Board. A copy of such petition shall forthwith be served upon the Commissioner or upon any officer designated by him for that purpose, or upon the claimant, according to which party files such petition, and upon the Board. Thereupon the Board shall certify and file in the court, in which such petition has been filed, a transcript of the record upon which the findings and decision complained of were based. Upon the filing of such transcript such

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