Opinion
6790-22S
05-03-2024
EBONY RENEE CHANNEY, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge.
On March 15, 2022, correspondence from or on behalf of petitioner, not accompanied by payment of the Court's filing fee, was filed as a petition to commence the above-docketed case. By Order served January 13, 2023, the Court directed petitioner to pay the Court's $60.00 filing fee or submit an application for waiver thereof. No response to the Court's Order was received. By Order of Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction entered March 9, 2023, this case was dismissed for petitioner's failure to pay the filing fee as directed by the Court.
Subsequently, on May 1, 2024, the Court received from petitioner correspondence in the nature of, and filed as, a Motion To Vacate Order of Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction. Therein, petitioner asked that the case be reopened. Petitioner further indicated that the Order for filing fee had been sent to an old address and that petitioner was more than willing to submit the filing fee.
However, except for very limited exceptions, none of which applies here, this Court lacks jurisdiction once a decision becomes final within the meaning of section 7481 of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.). Stewart v. Commissioner, 127 T.C. 109, 112 (2006). A reviewable decision of the Tax Court becomes final "Upon the expiration of the time allowed for filing a notice of appeal, if no such notice has been duly filed within such time". Sec. 7481(a)(1), I.R.C. Section 7483, I.R.C., provides that a notice of appeal may be filed within 90 days after a decision is entered. A nonreviewable decision, such as a disposition in a small tax case "S" proceeding, becomes final "upon the expiration of 90 days after the decision is entered". Sec. 7481(b), I.R.C. An order of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction is treated as the Court's decision. Stewart, 127 T.C. at 111.
The Court's Order of Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction in this case was entered on March 9, 2023, and thus became final on June 7, 2023. As noted above, petitioner did not file a motion to vacate or otherwise communicate with the Court until May 1, 2024. Because petitioner did not file the motion (or pay the filing fee) until after the Order of Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction had become final, the Court's decision in this case cannot be vacated. See, e.g., Golditch v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-237. That being so, it is
ORDERED that petitioner's just-referenced Motion To Vacate Order of Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction is denied, and this case remains closed.