<P> Congress amended the Internal Revenue Code, now codified in Internal Revenue Code section 7482, providing that decisions of the Tax Court may be reviewed by the applicable geographical United States Court of Appeals other than the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit . (See Article I and Article III tribunals). </P> <P> "Small Tax Cases" are conducted under Internal Revenue Code section 7463, and generally involve only amounts in controversy of $50,000 or less for any one tax year . The "Small Tax Case" procedure is available "at the option of the taxpayer ." These cases are neither appealable nor precedential . </P> <P> At times there have been efforts in the Congress and the Tax Bar to create a single national Court of Appeals for tax cases (or make Tax Court decisions appealable to a single existing Court of Appeals), to maintain uniformity in the application of the nation's tax laws (the very reason underlying the creation of the Tax Court and the grant of national jurisdiction to the Tax Court), but efforts to avoid "hometown results" or inconsistent results due to a lack of expertise have failed . </P> <P> An important reason for the movements to create a single national Court of Appeals for tax cases is that the United States Tax Court does not have exclusive jurisdiction over tax cases . In addition to the Tax Court, federal tax matters can be heard and decided in three other courts: U.S. District Courts, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Bankruptcy Court . In the first two instances, the taxpayer bringing the claim generally must have first paid the deficiency determined by the IRS . For the Bankruptcy Court, the tax matter must, of course, arise as an issue in a bankruptcy proceeding . Bankruptcy Court appeals are initially to the U.S. District Court . Appeals beyond the U.S. District Courts and the Court of Federal Claims follow the same path as those from the U.S. Tax Court as described above . </P>

Who determines the term of office for constitutional court judges