Pon v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

Full title: DAVID M. PON, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Court: United States Tax Court

Date published: Mar 10, 2023

No. 21211-22L (U.S.T.C. Mar. 10, 2023)

Opinion

21211-22L

03-10-2023

DAVID M. PON, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Mark V. Holmes Judge

ORDER

Mark V. Holmes Judge

This case is on the Court's May 1, 2023 San Francisco, California trial calendar. It's based on a notice of determination from the IRS that it intends to collect unpaid tax through a lien on petitioner's assets. Mr. Pon was a resident of California when he filed his petition, but now lives in Florida. On February 27, 2023 the parties moved for a continuance.

We spoke with the parties today to learn about the case and discuss how to move it forward. Mr. Pon was recently released from federal custody and is living in Florida on parole. It would thus be much easier for him to attend any trial or hearing of his case in Florida. We discussed which of the Florida cities the Tax Court visits would be best and Mr. Pon chose Tampa.

We also discussed what issues Mr. Pon could raise in this case. The usual rule is that a taxpayer has no right to challenge his underlying tax liability, but that is what Mr. Pon wants to do. His right to do so may turn on whether he received the notices of deficiency that the IRS sent to him. Inasmuch as he was probably incarcerated at the time, there is at least a reasonable possibility that he never got them. A first step in figuring this out is finding the IRS records that show when the IRS mailed those notices of deficiency and what address it mailed them to. It is therefore

ORDERED that the parties' February 27, 2023 motion for a continuance is granted in that this case is stricken from the Court's May 1, 2023 trial calendar. It is also

ORDERED that this division of the Court retains jurisdiction. It is also

ORDERED that respondent shall, on or before April 10, 2023, file a status report to accompany a copy of the certified mailing list or other proof of where and when the IRS mailed the notices of deficiency that led to this case.

The parties may expect the Court to release jurisdiction and change the place of trial to Tampa shortly after it receives respondent's status report.