Opinion
35130-21
04-26-2023
DOUGLAS DORSEY, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan Chief Judge
The petition in the above-docketed matter was filed on November 17, 2021, and 2017 was referenced as the taxable year in dispute. An answer to the petition followed on February 22, 2022, attaching a notice of deficiency dated August 10, 2021, issued to petitioner with respect to the 2017 taxable year, but the answer did not otherwise address jurisdictional matters.
Thereafter, the parties on April 26, 2023, submitted a Proposed Stipulated Decision resolving the case. Nonetheless, further review of the record raises questions of a fundamental jurisdictional defect that would prevent entry of the just-referenced decision. In particular, the date of the notice of deficiency underlying this proceeding indicates a statutory deadline for filing a petition pursuant to section 6213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) that expired on November 8, 2021. Conversely, the documentation shows that the petition was initially sent by petitioner to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 3, 2021, and received by the agency there on November 8, 2021. The petition was then re-sent by the IRS to the Tax Court, but the date of that second mailing is unclear from the record.
The premises considered, it is
ORDERED that, on or before May 17, 2023, respondent shall clarify the record as to the re-mailing of the petition to the Tax Court by either filing either: (1) An appropriate jurisdictional motion; and/or (2) a report establishing the basis or bases for the Court's jurisdiction and attaching thereto a copy of any supporting documentation. Appropriate action will then be taken with respect to the Proposed Stipulated Decision received.