Opinion
17200-22
05-11-2023
DAISY LYNN B. HARTSFIELD, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Ronald L. Buch, Judge
This case is calendared for trial at the Court's June 5, 2023, Honolulu, Hawaii trial session. On May 8, 2023, the Commissioner filed two documents, each titled "Respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction." The first document, at docket entry 10, and the second document, at docket entry 11, are duplicates except that docket entry 10 has an incorrect docket number in the headers.
In his motion, the Commissioner asserts that this case should be dismissed because this Court has no jurisdiction over this case because the petition was filed by Ms. Hartsfield and not Mr. Hartsfield. The Commissioner observes that the notice of deficiency underlying this case was issued to Mr. Hartsfield, and Mr. Hartsfield only. Because the notice was not issued to Ms. Hartsfield, we would not have jurisdiction if she filed her own case. But if Ms. Hartsfield was authorized to file a petition on behalf of Mr. Hartsfield, he may be able to ratify the petition and move this case forward. See Levitt v. Commissioner, 97 T.C. 437, 441 (1991) ("Ratification requires a showing of proper authorization by the signing party to act on behalf of the non-signing party. . . . [The Tax Court] must ascertain whether the non-signing spouse intended that the signing spouse act on behalf of and with the approval of the non-signing spouse when the signing spouse filed the petition with this Court.") (citations omitted).
Before taking action on the Commissioner's motion, we will provide Mr. and Ms. Hartsfield an opportunity to appear at the scheduled trial session for this case. In addition, the Hartsfields may contact the Court at 202-521-0810 if they would like a conference call to discuss this case before the scheduled session. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the Commissioner's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, at docket entry 10, filed May 8, 2023, is deemed stricken from the record. It is further
ORDERED that the Commissioner's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction filed May 8, 2023, at docket entry 11, is set for hearing at the call of the calendar at the trial session of the Court commencing June 5, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., U.S. District Court Federal Building, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96850. Ms. Hartsfield is cautioned that failure to appear may result in her case being dismissed.