Opinion ID: 3062052
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: taxpayer’s proceedings

Text: On October 6, 2009, the IRS sent Taxpayer a “Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing” for unpaid income-tax liabilities for 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008, totaling more than $73,000. He filed a timely request for a CDP hearing, and a settlement officer in the Office of Appeals sent him a letter scheduling his hearing (by telephone) for April 8, 2010. The letter informed him that the settlement officer could not consider alternative collection methods, such as an installment agreement, unless he filed all required tax returns and submitted a completed Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and SelfEmployed Individuals (Form 433-A), along with required documentation, by March 24. On March 24 Taxpayer faxed the Office of Appeals a completed Form 433-A with attached financial information. The submissions reflected a monthly income of $3,950 and expenses of $2,300, composed of $800 for food and clothing, $1,200 for housing and utilities, $200 for vehicle transportation, and $100 for out-of-pocket health-care. This left him a net disposable income of $1,650. During the April 8 telephonic hearing, however, the settlement officer informed Taxpayer that she had computed from his financial information that he could pay $2,167 per month. She calculated this figure from his stated monthly income and expenses, except that she disallowed expenses exceeding the Internal -4- Revenue Manual’s guidelines for a household of one in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The guidelines’ monthly allocations are $526 for food, clothing, and miscellaneous expenses; $997 for housing and utilities; and $60 for out-of-pocket health-care costs, which totaled $517 less than Taxpayer claimed for those expenses. Although the settlement officer notified Taxpayer that she might be able to consider additional out-of-pocket expenses if he could substantiate them, he did not follow up on this offer. Nor did he challenge the propriety of the tax lien or the use of the standard tables to compute his monthly disposable income. Instead, he stated simply that he could pay $1,200 a month, $450 less than what his own Form 433-A indicated as his monthly disposable income. On April 22, 2010, the Office of Appeals sent Taxpayer a notice of determination sustaining the filing of the tax lien and the collection action. It said that “consideration of a proposed collection alternative of an installment agreement or other less intrusive methods of collection [was] not possible.” R., Doc. 8, Ex. A attach. 4. Taxpayer filed a timely petition in the Tax Court challenging the notice of determination. He argued that it was not feasible for him to pay $2,200 per month, and that he would not have the IRS “[d]ictate [his] standard of living.” The Commissioner answered the petition, and then moved for summary judgment. Taxpayer filed a one-page, two-sentence response stating: “I do not think it is my best interest to dismiss my case. I object to the dismal [sic] motion.” Id., Doc. -5- 10. In a one-page decision noting that Taxpayer had not “addressed the merits of the motion,” the Tax Court granted the summary-judgment motion and ordered that the Commissioner may proceed with the collection action. Id., Doc. 11.