Opinion ID: 510051
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proof of Mailing

Text: 14 The relevant statutes simply require that the IRS mail a deficiency notice by certified or registered mail to a taxpayer's last known address. I.R.C. Sec. 6212(a); see supra note 8 and accompanying text. The IRS has, however, established detailed procedures for mailing deficiency notices. The Internal Revenue Manual provides: 15 (3) The record of certified mailing of notices of deficiency should be kept on P.S. Forms 3877 which are supplied in booklet form by the U.S. Postal Service. These books together with a series of certified numbers may be obtained from the local postmaster.... The following heading will be typed or imprinted by rubber stamp across the first line of each page of P.S. Form 3877:Notices of deficiency, for the years indicated, have been sent to the following taxpayers. 16 .... 17 (6) The Service employee will then enter the certified number on the envelope, and list the same number together with the name and address of the addressee on P.S. Form 3877. The year(s) for which the notice is applicable ... will be entered in the remarks column opposite the taxpayer's name and address. The notices to be mailed together with P.S. Form(s) will then be presented to the post office. The postal employee first compares the certified mail numbers, and names and addresses, on the envelope with those on P.S. Form 3877 and counts the number of envelopes. He/she then indicates post office receipt of this mail by signing and inserting the post mark on P.S. Form 3877, and returns the forms to the Service employee. The Service employee should initial and date P.S. Form 3877 as part of the permanent record of mailing, in order that, if called as a witness, he/she could testify as to the exact date on which the letters were presented for mailing.... Under no circumstances will the receipted P.S. Forms 3877 pertaining to the mailing of notices of deficiency be commingled with any other mailing records. 18 Internal Revenue Manual--Audit Sec. 4462.2. 19 Complete compliance with these established procedures would provide sufficient proof of mailing. United States v. Zolla, 724 F.2d 808, 810 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 105 S.Ct. 116, 83 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984) (Form 3877 is highly probative and is sufficient, in the absence of contrary evidence, to establish that the notice of deficiency was properly sent); United States v. Ahrens, 530 F.2d 781, 784-86 (8th Cir.1976); Cataldo v. Commissioner, 60 T.C. 522, 524 (1973), aff'd, 499 F.2d 550 (2d Cir.1974) (per curiam). 20 The IRS submitted three pieces of summary judgment evidence to prove that it mailed the August 10, 1984 notice of deficiency to the Taxpayers. First, the IRS submitted an affidavit by Mr. Donald A. Gloff of the IRS Quality Review Staff in Dallas. Mr. Gloff began: 21 I ... am in a position to verify the procedure for mailing of Statutory Notice[s] of Deficiency (90-day letter[s] and specifically the procedure used to mail the notice to Conrad and Linda Keado from Internal Revenue Service Quality Review Staff.... 22 Mr. Gloff then explained the steps involved in the mailing, including signing the notice, date stamping all copies, completing Post Office Forms 3800 and 3877-A, and taking the Post Office Forms and the envelope containing the deficiency notice to the Post Office for stamping and mailing. Mr. Gloff also noted that [t]he Firm Mailing Books maintained by QRS Section B, 90-Day section are used exclusively for the mailing of 90-day letters. 23 Second, the IRS submitted a copy of Post Office Form 3800, Receipt for Certified Mail. The bottom of Form 3800 is a numbered sticker for attachment to a certified letter. The top of Form 3800 is a numbered receipt for the person mailing the certified letter. The copy of Form 3800 submitted reflected that a certified letter with the number P 727 358 276 was sent to the Taxpayers at their home address. The Form 3800 submitted was postmarked August 10, 1984. 24 Third, the IRS submitted a copy of the relevant page from their Post Office Form 3877-A, Firm Mailing Book. This page also reflected that certified letter P 727 358 276 was sent to the Taxpayers at their home address. The Form 3877-A was postmarked August 10, 1984 and was initialled by the receiving Post Office employee who filled in the total number of items received. 25 Because the Form 3877-A submitted did not have the statement prescribed by Internal Revenue Manual Sec. 4462.2(3), supra, regarding the mailing of notices of deficiency and because the IRS employee mailing the notice did not note the years covered in the comments space, the Taxpayers argued that the Government only proved that the IRS mailed them something on August 10, 1984. The district court, however, found Mr. Gloff's statement that the forms in question were used only for the mailing of notices of deficiency sufficient. On appeal, the Taxpayers also point out that the IRS employee mailing the letter did not initial the Form 3877-A as prescribed by Internal Revenue Manual Sec. 4462.2(6), supra, and that the file copy of the notice of deficiency was not date stamped, although Mr. Gloff's affidavit said it should be. 11 26 Procedures or rules adopted by the IRS are not law. 12 The IRS adopted the deficiency notice mailing procedures to insure adequate proof of mailing, if needed. As we noted above, complete compliance with the established procedures would provide sufficient proof of mailing and the IRS certainly should carefully follow these procedures. Its failure to do so in this case has increased the length and complexity of this litigation. Nevertheless, failure to comply precisely with each aspect of each procedure is irrelevant if the evidence adduced is sufficient to prove mailing. The district court determined that the evidence was sufficient to establish as a matter of law that the IRS mailed the Taxpayers a deficiency notice for 1980 and 1981 on August 10, 1984. We agree with that determination. 27 Code Sec. 6213(a) does not authorize a court to grant an injunction against collection where the IRS mailed a notice of deficiency, as required by Secs. 6212 and 6213, before making the disputed assessment. Indeed, where there is no violation of the statutory notice procedure set forth in Secs. 6212 and 6213, the Anti-Injunction Act, I.R.C. Sec. 7421(a), expressly precludes injunctive relief. As a result, we affirm the district court's denial of the injunction requested by the Taxpayers to bar collection of the 1981 deficiency assessed on December 31, 1984. 13