Opinion
13950-21
12-08-2022
JUSTIN PAYNE & JOI PAYNE, 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 April 23, 2021, and 2018 was referenced as the taxable year in dispute. An answer to the petition followed on August 31, 2021. Thereafter, on April 19, 2022, respondent filed a report attaching a notice of deficiency dated January 11, 2021, issued to petitioners with respect to the 2018 taxable year, but the report did not address jurisdictional matters.
Subsequent review of the record, however, suggested a fundamental jurisdictional defect. At that juncture, the Court by Order served April 19, 2022, directed the parties, on or before May 17, 2022, 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 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 April 12, 2021, while the envelope in which the petition was received bore a postmark dated April 13, 2021.
To date, no response has been received from either petitioner or respondent.
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.
The premises considered, it is
ORDERED that the Court's Order To Show Cause, served April 19, 2022, is hereby made absolute. It is further
ORDERED that, on the Court's own motion, this case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.