Opinion
3654-21
08-11-2022
MANOJ KUMAR JUNEJA & NAMITA ARORA, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge.
Upon further review of the record in the above-docketed matter, the Court notes that petitioners' signatures on the Petition, filed April 9, 2021, appear to have been made using cursive font. Documents bearing such stylized signatures are not accepted by the Court.
However, the Court also notes that the Petition was electronically filed by petitioner Manoj Kumar Juneja, and, when a petition is electronically filed with the Court, the combination of the username and password of the individual eFiling the petition serves as the signature of the filer. Thus, because the Petition in this case was electronically filed using Mr. Juneja's username and password, it is treated as having been properly executed and filed by him, notwithstanding the fact that his signature on the document was made using cursive font.
Moreover, on August 8, 2022, the parties filed a Proposed Stipulated Decision, resolving the underlying tax liability that is the subject of this proceeding. Insofar as the Court's procedures require a stipulated decision to bear the original signature of the taxpayer, provided at minimum to the filing party as a high-resolution digital image and so maintained by the filing party, petitioner Namita Arora's intentions to file and prosecute the case in this forum have also been adequately verified. Accordingly, the Court will deem her to have ratified and affirmed the Petition as set forth below.
Upon due consideration of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that, when the Stipulated Decision is entered in due course, the Petition in this case shall be deemed to have been ratified and affirmed by petitioner Namita Arora.