Opinion
11908-20L
10-13-2022
ELMAHDI SOUBARI, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Mark V. Holmes Judge
This case was on the Court's May 24, 2021 trial calendar for New York City. Although it concerns tax collection, Mr. Soubari wanted the IRS to consider whether he even owes the tax it says he does. What makes it complicated is that his argument is that the IRS didn't properly file his married-filing-separately return, but instead a joint return that his wife signed his name to. This might, to use the tax-law terms, not be a "challenge to his liability" but rather a flaw in the assessment of the tax. Mr. Soubari has since retrieved copies of the separate returns that he says he filed.
We remanded the case to the IRS for a supplemental hearing. Respondent recently reported that petitioner's innocent spouse request package has been forwarded to the IRS Centralized Innocent Spouse Operations Unit (CCISO) for review. Respondent's counsel again requests additional time to allow the CCISO unit to complete their review of whether to grant petitioner innocent spouse relief. It is therefore
ORDERED that on or before January 3, 2023 respondent issue a supplemental notice of determination or respondent file a status report to describe the IRS's progress.