Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1472_6j37.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

considered  during  the  collection  due  process  hearing.    26 
U. S. C. §6330(c).  Neither possibility ties the Tax Court’s
jurisdiction to the filing deadline, and that is another point 
in  Boechler’s  favor.  Where  multiple  plausible  interpreta-
tions exist—only one of which is jurisdictional—it is diffi-
cult to make the case that the jurisdictional reading is clear.
See Sossamon v. Texas, 563 U. S. 277, 287 (2011). 

Nothing else in the provision’s text or structure advances
the case for jurisdictional clarity.  The deadline, which ap-
pears  in  the  first  independent  clause  of  the  sentence,  ex-
plains what the taxpayer may do: “The person may, within
30 days of a determination under this section, petition the
Tax Court for review of such determination.”  §6330(d)(1).
The jurisdictional grant, which appears in a parenthetical
at  the  end of  the  sentence,  speaks  to  what  the  Tax  Court 
shall do: “(and the Tax Court shall have jurisdiction with
respect  to  such  matter).”  Ibid.   As  explained  above,  this 
language  can  be  plausibly  construed  to  condition  the  Tax 
Court’s  jurisdiction  on  a  timely  filing.    But  the  condition 
would not be express and would be found in a parenthetical,
which  is  typically  used  to  convey  an  “aside”  or  “after-
thought.”  B. Garner, Modern English Usage 1020 (4th ed. 
2016).

Finally, the broader statutory context confirms the lack 
of any clear statement in §6330(d)(1).  Other tax provisions
enacted  around  the  same  time  as  §6330(d)(1)  much  more 
clearly link their jurisdictional grants to a filing deadline. 
See  26  U. S. C.  §6404(g)(1)  (1994  ed.,  Supp.  II)  (the  Tax 
Court  has  “jurisdiction  over  any  action  . . .  to  determine 
whether the Secretary’s failure to abate interest under this 
section  was  an  abuse  of  discretion,  . . .  if  such  action  is 
brought within 180 days”); §6015(e)(1)(A) (1994 ed., Supp.
IV)  (“The  individual  may  petition  the  Tax  Court  (and  the
Tax Court shall have jurisdiction) to determine the appro-
priate relief available to the individual under this section if