Opinion
2663-21S
12-08-2022
WADE H. HARTZ & SAMANTHA HARTZ, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge.
The petition in the above-docketed matter was filed on January 26, 2021. Attached to the petition was a notice of deficiency dated October 26, 2020, issued to petitioners with respect to the 2018 taxable year. An answer to the petition followed on May 7, 2021, but did not address jurisdictional matters.
Review of the record herein, however, continues to suggest a fundamental jurisdictional defect. The date of the notice of deficiency underlying this proceeding for 2018 indicates a statutory deadline for filing a petition pursuant to section 6213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) that expired on January 25, 2021. Conversely, the envelope in which the petition was received had been sent by UPS Ground, but UPS Ground is not a designated private delivery service for purposes of the section 7502, I.R.C., timely mailing provisions.
Subsequent review of the record, however, suggested a fundamental jurisdictional defect. At that juncture, the Court by Order served May 17, 2021, directed the parties, on or before June 16, 2021, to show cause in writing why this case should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, on the ground that the petition was not mailed to or filed with the Tax Court within the time prescribed by section 6213(a) or 7502 of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.). [The Order also noted, first, that the date of the notice of deficiency underlying this proceeding for 2018 indicated a statutory deadline for filing a petition pursuant to section 6213(a), I.R.C., which expired on January 25, 2021, and second, that although the petition had been shipped via UPS Ground, UPS Ground was not a designated private delivery service for purposes of the section 7502, I.R.C., timely mailing provisions.
On June 16, 2021, respondent filed a response to the Order To Show Cause, concurring that the case should be dismissed as untimely. To date, no response has been received from petitioners.
This Court is a court of limited jurisdiction. It may therefore exercise jurisdiction only to the extent expressly provided by statute. Breman v. Commissioner, 66 T.C. 61, 66 (1976). In a case seeking the redetermination of a deficiency, the jurisdiction of the Court depends, in part, on the timely filing of a petition by the taxpayer. Rule 13(c), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure; Hallmark Research Collective v. Commissioner, No. 21284-21, 159 T.C. (Nov. 29, 2022); Brown v. Commissioner, 78 T.C. 215, 220 (1982). In this regard, section 6213(a), I.R.C., provides that the petition must be filed with the Court within 90 days, or 150 days if the notice is addressed to a person outside the United States, after the notice of deficiency is mailed (not counting Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday in the District of Columbia as the last day). The Court has no authority to extend this 90-day (or 150-day) period. Joannou v. Commissioner, 33 T.C. 868, 869 (1960). However, a petition shall be treated as timely filed if it is filed on or before the last date specified in such notice for the filing of a Tax Court petition, a provision which becomes relevant where that date is later than the date computed with reference to the mailing date. Sec. 6213(a), I.R.C. Likewise, if the conditions of section 7502, I.R.C., are satisfied, a petition which is timely mailed may be treated as having been timely filed.
Section 7502, I.R.C., in turn, applies to documents sent and postmarked timely by U.S. mail and to documents sent timely by private delivery services that have been explicitly designated by the Government for that purpose. Sec. 7502(a), (f), I.R.C. Critically, however, and as relevant here, while certain forms of UPS delivery have been so designated, UPS Ground is not one of the private delivery services recognized under section 7502, I.R.C. See Notice 2016-30, 2016-18 I.R.B. 676. Thus, although the Court is sympathetic to petitioners' situation, section 7502, I.R.C., offer no assistance in the instant scenario.
The premises considered, it is
ORDERED that the Court's Order To Show Cause, served May 17, 2021, is hereby made absolute. It is further
ORDERED that, on the Court's own motion, this case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.