Court Opinion

ID: 9480625
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:53:46.92156+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:48.568042
License: Public Domain

LAY, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The majority determines that the timely filing requirement of I.R.C. § 7502 (1988) is satisfied by secondary evidence of a postmark. I submit that the majority’s holding ignores the plain language of the statute and violates basic principles of statutory construction.
The majority concludes that direct proof of a postmark satisfies the requirements of I.R.C. § 7502(a), even where the Commissioner asserts the document was not actually received. The plain language of the statute does not support this result. I.R.C. § 7502 reads as follows:
(a) General rule.
(1) Date of delivery. If any return, claim, statement, or other document required to be filed, or any payment required to be made, within a prescribed period or on or before a prescribed date * * * is, after such period or such date, delivered by United States mail to the agency, officer, or office with which such return, claim, statement, or other document is required to be filed, or to which such payment is required to be made, the date of the United States postmark stamped on the cover in which such return, claim, statement, or other document, or payment, is mailed shall be deemed to be the date of delivery or the date of payment, as the case may be.
(2) Mailing requirements. This subsection shall apply only if—
(A) the postmark date falls within the prescribed period or on or before the prescribed date—
(i) for the filing (including any extension granted for such filing) of the return, claim, statement, or other document, or (ii) for making the payment (including any extension granted for making such payment), and
(B) the return, claim, statement, or other document, or payment was, within the time prescribed in subparagraph (A), deposited in the mail in the United States in an envelope or other appropriate wrapper, postage prepaid, properly addressed to the agency, officer, or office with which the return, claim, statement, or other document is required to be filed, or to which such payment is required to be made.
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(c) Registered and certified mailing.
(1) Registered mail. For purposes of this section, if any such return, claim, statement, or other document, or other payment, is sent by United States registered mail—
(A) such registration shall be prima fa-cie evidence that the return, claim, statement, or other document was delivered to the agency, officer, or office to which addressed, and
(B) the date of registration shall be deemed the postmark date.
(2) Certified mail. The Secretary is authorized to provide by regulations the extent to which the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to prima facie evidence of delivery and the postmark shall apply to certified mail.
I.R.C. § 7502(a), (c) (emphasis added).
Contrary to the majority’s reasoning that the “hallmark” of these sections is the postmark, my reading of the statute is that “delivery” is the essential requirement under subsection (a) of the statute. Subdivision (a) addresses the “date of delivery,” and requires that the document be “delivered by United States mail.” I am unable to agree with the majority that the postmark is the controlling factor when the plain language of the statute relegates the postmark to irrelevancy if the document is not delivered. In this case, the estate’s tax return was not delivered to the Commis*1163sioner.1 Therefore, the estate cannot, under the plain terms of the statute, take advantage of the timely mailing exception of section 7502(a) since that exception applies only in the case of delivery of the document. See, e.g., Miller v. United States, 784 F.2d 728, 729 (6th Cir.1986) (per curiam); Deutsch v. Commissioner, 599 F.2d 44, 46 (2d Cir.1979); H.S. & H. Ltd. v. United States, 18 Cl.Ct. 241, 246 (1989); Buttke v. United States, 13 Cl.Ct. 191, 192 (1987).2
The IRS has consistently interpreted the plain language of this statute to require delivery for the timely mailing exception to apply: “Section 7502 is not applicable unless the document is delivered by U.S. mail to the agency, officer, or office with which it is required to be filed.” 26 C.F.R. § 301.7502-l(d) (1989). This court has previously accorded substantial deference to the Commissioner’s interpretations of a statute. See Yellow Freight Sys., Inc. ¶. United States, 538 F.2d 790, 795-96 (8th Cir.1976); see also City of Tucson, Ariz. v. Commissioner, 820 F.2d 1283, 1287-88 (D.C.Cir.1987) (giving substantial deference to regulation). There is no question that the estate’s return was not delivered to the IRS. Therefore, the estate cannot reasonably argue that the timely mailing constitutes timely filing. Under these circumstances, evidence of a postmark is irrelevant to the issue of delivery.3
The majority’s interpretation also renders redundant and irrelevant subsection (c), which allows a taxpayer using registered or certified mail to rely on the receipt from the mailing as prima facie evidence of delivery. This subsection creates the presumption of delivery that the majority strains to find in subsection (a). Subsection (c) offers the taxpayer who is unwilling to risk the possibility of nondelivery or lost mail a form of evidence that verifies mailing by creating a presumption of delivery. Thus, as consistently interpreted by the Commissioner, “if the document is sent by registered mail or certified mail, proof that the document was properly registered or that a postmarked certified mail sender’s receipt was properly issued * * * shall constitute prima facie evidence that the document was delivered[.]” 26 C.F.R. § 301.7502-l(d).
The majority’s interpretation of subsection (a), to allow a taxpayer to create a presumption of delivery by presenting evidence of a postmark, obliterates subsection (c), and strips it of its purpose. Why would Congress provide use of certified or registered mail for a taxpayer when the presumption of delivery can be established by evidence of a single postmark? Under those circumstances, subsection (c) would become totally redundant. Established principles of statutory construction require that statutes be interpreted to give effect to all the provisions. See, e.g., Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana, 472 U.S. 237, 249, 105 S.Ct. 2587, 2594, 86 L.Ed.2d 168 (1985) (statute should be interpreted so as not to render one pro*1164vision redundant); Beef Nebraska, Inc. v. United States, 807 F.2d 712, 717 (8th Cir.1986) (court should not adopt a reading of statute that renders one provision redundant). Additionally, the majority’s proposed reading of the statute defeats the purpose of section 7502, to create “an easily applied objective standard.” Deutsch, 599 F.2d at 46.
For the reasons explained, I respectfully dissent.

. A copy of a return purportedly sent prior to the deadline date was received by the Commissioner on October 2, 1984, 2 years and 6 months after it was due.

. The common law rule was that delivery was required for a document to be considered filed. See United States v. Lombardo, 241 U.S. 73, 76, 36 S.Ct. 508, 509, 60 L.Ed. 897 (1916). The majority recognizes that prior to the enactment of section 7502, taxpayers were "subject to the vagaries of postal delivery, which delivery varies from place to place and from season to season.” Maj. op. at 1158. If the statute was enacted to address perceived inequities in delivery, I am at a loss to understand how the majority can conclude that the “hallmark” of the statute is the postmark.

.To the extent that the majority relies on case law that suggests the taxpayer's evidence of a postmark creates a presumption of delivery, I agree with the dissenting judges in the Tax Court that the taxpayer must also present evidence that the document mailed would have reached the Commissioner by the necessary date, evidence the taxpayer did not present in this case. See Arkansas Motor Coaches v. Commissioner, 198 F.2d 189, 190 (8th Cir.1952) (taxpayer’s petition would have reached destination in ordinary course of mail delivery); Crude Oil Corp. v. Commissioner, 161 F.2d 809, 810 (10th Cir.1947) (proof of mailing in time to reach destination by date required created presumption of delivery). Both cases, however, were decided prior to the enactment of section 7502, which, as I have noted, requires delivery for its exceptions to be effective.