TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Carroll Carey Ford
Docket Number: 10345-08S
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 10/24/2008
Pages: 7

vi 'Shy / rn .& UNITED STATES TAX COUR T WASHINGTON , DC 2021 7 { AUM 5E .=., 4 _ CAL . STAT . S .T . JUDGE FIU S CARROLL CAREY FORD, Petitione r v . ) Docket No . 10345-08S . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE , Respondent O R D E R Pursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it is ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall transmit herewith to petitioner and to respondent a copy of the pages of the transcript of the hearing of the above case before Special Trial Judge Robert N . Armen, Jr . at Peoria, Illinois on October 7, 2008, containing his oral findings of fact and opinion rendered at the conclusion of the hearing . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, an Order of Dismissal for Lac sdiction will be entered . (Signed) Robert N . Armen, Jr. Special Trial Judg e Dated : Washington, D .C . October 24, 2008 SERVED OCT 2 4 2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 Bench Opinion by Special Trial Judge Robert N . Armen Jr . Carroll Carey Ford Docket No . 10345-08 S I . THE COURT : THE COURT HAS DECIDED TO RENDER ORAL FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION IN THIS CASE, AND THE FOLLOWIN G REPRESENTS THE COURT'S ORAL FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION . THE ORAL FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION SHALL NOT BE RELIE D UPON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY OTHER CASE . II . This proceeding was heard as a Small Tax Cas e pursuant to the provisions of Section 7463 of the Interna l Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and Rules 170 through 17 5 of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure . III . This bench opinion is made pursuant to th e authority granted by Section 7459(b) of the Internal Revenu e Code of 1986, as amended, and Rule 152 of the Tax Cour t Rules of Practice and Procedure . Hereinafter in this bench opinion, and unles s indicated otherwise, all section numbers refer to th e Internal Revenue Code, as amended , and all Rule number s refer to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure . Julie A . Jebe appeared on behalf of Respondent . There was no appearance by or on behalf of Petitioner . V . Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 4 1 By Notice dated an served on Petitioner b y 2 certified mail on July 23, 2008, this case was calendared 3 for trial on October 6, 2008 in Peoria, Illinois . However, 4 on September 17, 2008, Respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss 5 for Lack of Jurisdiction, a copy of which was served b y 6 Respondent on Petitioner by mail on September 16, 2008 . In 7 his motion, Respondent contends that this case should b e 8 dismissed on the ground that no notice of deficiency for 9 either 2005 or 2006 was sent to Petitioner prior to the 10 filing of the petition herein . 11 By Order dated and served on Petitioner by 12 certified mail on September 22, 2008, the Court calendared 13 Respondent's motion for hearing on October 6, 2008 i n 14 Chicago, Illinois . 15 Pursuant to the aforementioned Notice and Order, 16 this case was called from the calendar on October 6, 2008 in 17 Peoria, Illinois . Counsel for Respondent appeared . I n 18 contrast, there was no appearance by or on behalf o f 19 Petitioner . Later that day, this case was recalled from the 20 calendar . Again, there was no appearance by or on behalf of 21 Petitioner . Counsel for Respondent appeared and argued in 22 support of ~~his motion . 2 3 2 4 25 VI . Because this Court may only hear and decide a cas e Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 1 on the merits if the Court has jurisdiction, the threshol d 2 issue for decision is necessarily whether Carroll Carey Ford 3 (Petitioner) filed the petition for redetermination o f 4 deficiencies within the period of time prescribed by Section 5 5 6213(a) . 6 VII . 7 The facts necessary to a resolution of the 8 jurisdictional issue are as follows : 9 On May 5, 2008, Petitioner filed a petition with 10 this Court seeking a redetermination of deficiencies for the 11 taxable (calendar.) years 2005 and 2006 . Petitioner date d 12 the petition May 1, 2008 . 13 In the petition, Petitioner references an IRS 14 notice dated February 4, 2008 . However, Petitioner did not 15 attach to the petition, as an exhibit, a copy of any such 16 notice or, indeed, a copy of any notice or document . 17 The IRS notice dated February 4, 2008, appears to 18 have been a revised 30-day letter for 2005 and 2006 . The 19 February 4, 29008 notice was not a notice of deficienc y 20 within the meaning of Section 6212 . 21 On May 12, 2008, Respondent sent to Petitioner by 22 certified mail a notice of deficiency for 2005 and 2006 . 23 The notice of deficiency was addressed to Petitioner at the 24 same address listed by Petitioner on the petition herein . 25 Petitioner did not file an "amended petition" in Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 6 1 the instant case after the issuance of the May 5, 2008 2 notice of deficiency . urther, and to the best of the 3 Court's knowledge, Petitioner did not file, at a docket 4 number other than the instant one, a petition fo r 5 redetermination after the issuance of such notice of 6 deficiency . 7 As indicated, Respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss 8 for Lack of Jurisdiction on September 17, 2008 . In th e 9 motion, Respondent represents that no notice of deficiency 10 for either 2005 or 2006 was sent to Petitioner prior to the 11 May 12, 2008 notice of deficiency . Respondent als o 12 represents that Respondent has made no other determination 13 that would serve to confer jurisdiction on this Court . 14 Petitioner has given us no reason not to accept these 15 representations . 16 VIII . 17 the Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction ; 18 see Section 7442 . Accordingly, we may exercise jurisdiction 19 only to the extent expressly authorized by statute . Breman 20 v . Commissioner , 66 T .C . 61, 66 (1976) . In an action fo r 21 the redetermination of a deficiency, the Court' s 22 jurisdiction under Section 6213( a) depends on the issuance 23 by the Commissioner of a valid notice of deficiency to th e 24 taxpayer and the timely filing of a petition by th e 25 ta x a p ye r . Fili L e ng v . o oner , 81 T .C . 42, 4 6 mm ss i C i (19c(3 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 1 Rule 13( a) . The taxpayer , in turn, has 90 days ( or 150 days 2 if the notice is addressed to a person outside the Unite d 3 States) from the date the notice of deficiency is mailed to 4 file a petition in this Court for a redetermination of the 7 5 contested deficiency ; Section 6213(a) . 6 In the present case, Respondent's motion i s 7 premised on the fact that the petition was filed with the 8 Court before the May 12 , 2008 notice of deficiency wa s 9 issued by Respondent . That being the case, we ar e 10 constrained to conclude that the petition was prematurely 11 filed and that Respondent ' s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of 12 Jurisdiction must be granted because the petition was not 13 filed within the statutory period . Benedict v . 14 Commissioner , 1931 WL 5509 ( B .T .A .) . 15 Although Petitioner cannot pursue a case in this 16 Court, Petitioner may, perhaps , have an administrativ e 17 remedy in the form of a request for audit reconsideration 18 and / or a judicial remedy in the form of a refund action in 19 the appropriate Federal district court or the United States 20 Court of Federal Claims ; see e .g . McCormick v . Commissioner , 21 55 T . C . 138, 142 n . 5 (1970) . However, those matters ar e 22 beyond the scope of this Court ' s jurisdiction and Petitioner 23 may care to seek advice from a competent tax professional . 2 4 25 IX . In conclusion, we shall enter an order o f Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 8 1 Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction granting Respondent' s 2 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction filed September 3 17, 2008, and dismissing this case for lack of jurisdiction 4 on the ground that the petition was prematurely filed . 5 X . 6 THIS CONCLUDES THE COURT'S ORAL FINDINGS OF FACT 7 AND OPINION IN THIS CASE . 8 (Whereupon, at 11 :00 a .m ., the bench opinion in 9 the above-entitled matter was concluded . ) 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14 // 1 5 16 // 1 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888