According to the Tax Court, IRS agents cannot abate interest on overdue taxes. This comes from a case involving an executor of an estate in Croatia who could not tap bank accounts here to pay U.S. income tax because of long delays encountered in Croatia’s probate courts.
The IRS agent informed him if he paid the tax when he got the funds and sent a note to explain the delay, nothing else would be due. The agent was incorrect and gave invalid advice. The executor must pay interest because the agent’s mistake didn’t cause him to delay paying the tax
(Est. of Telesmanich, TC Memo. 2011-181).