Opinion
3572-22S
02-16-2023
HOLLIS WOOD & TARA THOMAN WOOD, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge.
On January 31, 2022, petitioners filed the petition in this case seeking review of notices of deficiency for tax years 2017 and 2018. Petitioners attached a notice of deficiency dated November 4, 2021, for tax year 2018 to the petition, but no notice of deficiency for tax year 2017 was attached to the petition.
On July 28, 2022, respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction as to 2017 on the ground that no notice of deficiency was issued to petitioners for tax year 2017.
This Court is a court of limited jurisdiction. It may therefore exercise jurisdiction only to the extent expressly provided by statute. Breman v. Commissioner, 66 T.C. 61, 66 (1976). In a case seeking the redetermination of a deficiency, the jurisdiction of the Court depends, in part, on the issuance by the Commissioner of a valid notice of deficiency to the taxpayer. Rule 13(c), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure; Frieling v. Commissioner, 81 T.C. 42, 46 (1983). The notice of deficiency has been described as "the taxpayer's ticket to the Tax Court" because, without it, there can be no prepayment judicial review by this Court of the deficiency determined by the Commissioner. Mulvania v. Commissioner, 81 T.C. 65, 67 (1983).
On December 13, 2022, petitioners filed an Objection to respondent's motion to dismiss. In their Objection, petitioners did not deny the jurisdictional allegations set forth in respondent's motion. Instead, petitioners assert that there is a carryforward from 2017 that will affect their 2018 tax return. Petitioners did not provided a copy of a notice of deficiency for tax year 2017 that would confer jurisdiction on this Court.
The record establishes that no notice of deficiency sufficient to confer jurisdiction on this Court has been sent to petitioners with respect to tax year 2017. Accordingly, the Court is obliged to grant respondent's motion.
Upon due consideration, it is
ORDERED that respondent's above-referenced motion is granted, and so much of this case relating to a notice of deficiency for tax year 2017 is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and deemed stricken from the record. Petitioners are reminded that so much of this case as relates a notice of deficiency for tax year 2018 remains pending before the Court.