Opinion
8209-22S
07-15-2022
DAVID WAYNE CALLAGHAN & DIANA LYNN CALLAGHAN, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge.
On April 4, 2022, petitioners filed the petition to commence this case, seeking to challenge a notice of deficiency issued for their 2019 tax year. On May 13, 2022, petitioners filed a Motion to Dismiss and an Affidavit of IRS in Support of Motion to Dismiss. Those documents are duplicative in that each one consists of a notice from the IRS proposing a refund with respect to petitioners' 2019 tax year.
The Tax Court is separate and independent from the IRS. If the Court dismisses a deficiency case for a reason other than for lack of jurisdiction, Internal Revenue Code section 7459(d) generally requires the Court to enter a decision for the Commissioner for the amounts determined in the notice of deficiency. Settles v. Commissioner, 138 T.C. 372, 374 (2012). Because the Court has jurisdiction in this deficiency case and petitioners' letter indicates that this matter has been settled with respondent for an amount less than the amount set forth in the notice of deficiency, the petition in this case may not be withdrawn or dismissed by petitioners. In these circumstances, however, the parties may submit proposed stipulated decision documents for the Court's consideration so that this case may be concluded.
Upon due consideration, it is
ORDERED that petitioners' above-referenced Motion to Dismiss is recharacterized as a Motion for Entry of Decision. It is further
ORDERED that the Affidavit of IRS in Support of Motion to Dismiss is stricken from the Court's record. It is further
ORDERED that, on or before August 29, 2022, either (1) respondent shall file a response to petitioners' Motion for Entry of Decision, or (2) the parties shall file proposed stipulated decision documents so that this case may be concluded.