Opinion
4788-21
06-16-2021
David Allen Janssen & Xiaolan Wu Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION
Maurice B. Foley Chief Judge
On February 1, 2021, the Court received from petitioners a letter, attached to which was a copy of a notice of deficiency dated January 11, 2021, issued to petitioners with respect to the 2017 taxable year. To protect petitioners' statutory time period within which to begin a case, the Court filed that letter as a petition to commence this proceeding at Docket No. 4788-21.
Subsequent review of the record, however, suggested a fundamental jurisdictional defect. At that juncture, the Court by Order served May 17, 2021, directed the parties, on or before June 9, 2021, 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 2017. The Order also noted that the petition had represented, and had attached documentation supporting, that the deficiency had been paid in January 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 June 9, 2021, respondent filed a response 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 January of 2020. Respondent further concurred that the case should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. To date, no response has been received from petitioners.
The premises considered, it is
ORDERED that the Court's Order To Show Cause, served May 17, 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. It is further
ORDERED that respondent's Motion To Extend Time To Move or File Answer, filed June 15, 2021, is denied as moot.