Opinion
6114-22W
07-08-2022
JEFFREY MARK MCMEEL, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge
In this case petitioner seeks review of a notice of determination under section 7623 concerning whistleblower action. The notice of determination on which this case is based states: "The Whistleblower Office has made a final decision to reject your claim for an award. Your claim has been rejected because the Whistleblower Office was unable to identify the target of your [whistleblower claim] based on the information you provided."
By opinion issued January 11, 2022, in the case of Li v. Commissioner, 22 F.4th 1014 (D.C. Cir. 2022), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (to which all Tax Court whistleblower cases are appealable pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7482(b)(1)) held that the Tax Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction of whistleblower cases, such as this one, in which the IRS rejects the whistleblower claim and therefore does not commence any administrative or judicial proceeding based on the whistleblower's information. The court of appeals' judgment in that case is now final.
Accordingly, upon due consideration of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that, on the Court's own motion, this case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.