Opinion
17455-16
01-09-2024
WILLIAM M. HEFLEY & AIMEE J. HEFLEY, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Joseph H. Gale, Judge.
The Petition in this case seeks review of respondent's determinations in (1) a Notice of Deficiency issued jointly to petitioners William M. Hefley and Aimee J. Hefley (Ms. Hefley) for their taxable years 2011 through 2013, and (2) a Notice of Determination Concerning Your Request for Relief from Joint and Several Liability (Notice of Determination) addressing Ms. Hefley's claims for relief under section 6015 for those same taxable years. Pending before the Court is a Motion for Leave to Withdraw Petition for Review of Notice of Determination, filed March 26, 2021, wherein Ms. Hefley seeks "to withdraw her petition for review of the Notice of Determination."
We refer to the Notice of Determination using the title by which it is identified in the Petition. The title printed on the document itself, a copy of which is attached to respondent's Answer, is "Final Determination."
Statutory references are to the Internal Revenue Code, Title 26 U.S.C., in effect at all relevant times.
We have held that we have discretion to grant a motion to voluntarily dismiss or withdraw a petition that invokes our "stand-alone" jurisdiction under section 6015(e)(1) to review a final determination concerning a claim for relief under section 6015. See Davidson v. Commissioner, 144 T.C. 273 (2015). In exercising our discretion, we must weigh the relevant equities, giving particular consideration to whether dismissal would prejudice the opposing party. See id. at 276. We are satisfied that respondent will not be prejudiced by dismissal under the circumstances before us here, because the time for filing a petition for review of the Notice of Determination has long expired. See § 6015(e)(1)(A); Davidson, 144 T.C. at 278 n.6. We will accordingly grant the Motion.
The foregoing considered, it is
ORDERED that petitioner Aimee J. Hefley's Motion for Leave to Withdraw Petition for Review of Notice of Determination, filed March 26, 2021, is granted, and this case is hereby dismissed insofar as it relates to the Notice of Determination.