Opinion
13860-21S
10-06-2021
Jessica Campbell Bowers & David O. Bowers Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION
Maurice B. Foley Chief Judge
On April 26, 2021, a petition was filed to commence the above docket-matter, attaching a copy of a notice of deficiency dated February 1, 2021, issued to petitioners with respect to the 2018 taxable year. Subsequent review of the record, however, suggested a fundamental jurisdictional defect. At that juncture, the Court by Order served July 19, 2021, directed respondent to show cause in writing why this case should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, on the ground that no valid notice of deficiency, as authorized by section 6212 and required by section 6213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code to form the basis for a petition to this Court, had been issued to petitioners with respect to taxable year 2018. The Order also noted that the petition had represented, and had attached documentation supporting, that the deficiency had been paid in December of 2020. If the amount of an alleged deficiency has been paid prior to issuance of a statutory notice pertaining thereto, the determined amount fails to qualify as a deficiency within the meaning of the governing provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.
On August 13, 2021, respondent filed a reply to the Order To Show Cause. Therein, respondent confirmed, and provided supporting documentation in the form of an account transcript to establish, that payment of the deficiency had been received by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in December of 2020. Respondent further concurred that the case should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
The premises considered, it is
ORDERED that the Court's Order To Show Cause, served July 19, 2021, is hereby made absolute. It is further
ORDERED that, on the Court's own motion, this case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the purported notice of deficiency is invalid.
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