Opinion ID: 2799599
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background Details

Text: The IRS determined Mabbett owed over $200,000 in income taxes and penalties for 2008. On February 10, 2014, it issued Mabbett a notice of deficiency (notice) explaining she had 90 days, or until May 12, 2014, in which to file a petition with the Tax Court. The IRS sent the notice via certified mail to three different addresses: (1) a street address in Encinitas, California—the address appearing on Mabbett’s most recently filed tax return (her 2011 tax return),1 (2) a post office box in Lake City, Colorado, and (3) a street address in Lake City, Colorado.2 The notice sent to the California address was delivered by the United States Postal Service on February 13, 2014. The notices sent to the Colorado addresses were forwarded (apparently per Mabbett’s instructions) to the California address on February 11, 2014. A week later (February 18, 2014) the postal service attempted to deliver them to the California address but no one was present to sign for them. As a result, the postal carrier left notification at the address informing Mabbett that mail was being held for her at the local post office. Because Mabbett never claimed 1 The 2011 tax return is dated March 25, 2013, and was received by the IRS on March 27, 2013. At the time the notice was issued, Mabbett had yet to file a 2012 or 2013 tax return. 2 Mabbett owns a resort in Colorado and performs seasonal work there in the Spring. The IRS was aware of the Colorado addresses from previous contacts with Mabbett. -2- the notices at the post office, they were returned to the IRS on March 31, 2014. In addition to these notices, the IRS sent a copy of the notice to Jack Salewski, the person it had on file as Mabbett’s authorized representative and accountant. Per Mabbett’s request, Salewski faxed the notice to her on March 13, 2014. She apparently received this notice because she attached it to her petition for redetermination. Mabbett’s petition for redetermination was filed with the Tax Court on May 19, 2014. The IRS moved to dismiss the petition as untimely because it was not filed within 90 days of the mailing of the notice as required by 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a). Mabbett opposed the motion claiming she never received any of the notices because she was out of town when they were delivered and her attempts to track the certified mail notification left by the postal service were unsuccessful.3 Yet she acknowledged she received a copy of the notice via fax from Salewski on March 13, 2014. She nonetheless claimed that notice was inadequate because it “came through poorly and the date was smudged so badly that she interpreted the due date [for her petition] to be May 17, so based on that understanding . . . [her petition] was timely.”4 (R. Doc. 5 at 1.) Additionally, she argued 3 While Mabbett may not have been able to obtain the notices which were originally sent to the Colorado addresses and ultimately returned to the IRS, she fails to explain why she did not receive the notice mailed directly to the California address. The record indicates that notice was in fact delivered to the California address. In any event, as we will explain, actual receipt of the notice by the taxpayer is unnecessary; the notice is deemed sufficient if it is mailed to the taxpayer’s “last known address.” 26 U.S.C. § 6212(b)(1). 4 In claiming her May 19, 2014 petition was timely filed by May 17, 2014, Mabbett relies on 26 U.S.C. § 7502(a). This provision of the Internal Revenue Code contains a rule similar to the mailbox rule we employ for certain inmate filings. See (Continued . . .) -3- she had 150 days to file her petition under 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a) because she is a Canadian citizen. Mabbett further claimed the documents attached to the IRS’s motion to dismiss—those establishing proof of mailing of the notice—could not be considered because they were not sworn to or notarized. Finally, she maintained the court had the “discretion to deny the motion to dismiss in the interests of fairness and justice.” (R. Doc. 14 at 3.) In dismissing for lack of jurisdiction, the Tax Court decided her petition was untimely. It found the notice had been sent to Mabbett’s last known address—the Encinitas, California address—on February 10, 2014. Because Mabbett had not shown she was “outside the United States” at the time the notice was sent, see 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a), she had 90 days, not 150 days, or until May 12, 2014, in which to file her petition.