WELLS,
The facts set forth below are based upon examination of the pleadings, moving papers, responses, and attachments. At the time he filed his petition, petitioner resided in Tennessee.
Petitioner failed to file income tax returns for his 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 tax years (years in issue). Respondent therefore prepared a substitute for return with respect to each of the years in issue. On February 16, 2010, via certified mail, respondent mailed to petitioner a notice of deficiency with respect to each of the years in issue. As shown on the Postal Service Form 3877 attached to respondent's motion, respondent mailed separate copies of those notices of deficiency to petitioner's post office box and to his street address in Cordova, Tennessee. Petitioner's post office box address is the address petitioner used in his correspondence with respondent's Appeals Office and with this Court. According to a USPS.com "Track & Confirm" printout supplied by respondent, a notice was left at petitioner's addresses on February 18, 2010. However, petitioner did not claim the notices of deficiency, and they were returned to respondent marked "unclaimed".
On or about November 2012 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 82">*84 22, 2010, respondent mailed to petitioner a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing, advising petitioner that respondent intended to levy to collect petitioner's unpaid tax liabilities, penalties, and interest for the years in issue, which at the time totaled almost $800,000. On December 21, 2010, petitioner requested a collection due process hearing by submitting to respondent a completed Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing.
On February 23, 2011, Settlement Officer Darlene Macaulay mailed petitioner a letter informing him that she had scheduled a telephone conference for March 29, 2011. She advised him that although he had requested a face-to-face hearing, he was ineligible for a face-to-face hearing because his account was not current and because he had not supplied the information required for the Appeals Office to consider a collection alternative. The letter also informed petitioner that because he had failed to claim the notices of deficiency mailed by respondent, he had already forfeited his opportunity to contest the underlying liabilities. Ms. Macaulay advised petitioner that if he wished the Appeals Office to 2012 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 82">*85 consider collection alternatives, he needed to: file his tax returns for 2007, 2008, and 2009; complete a Form 433-A, Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals; and supply proof of estimated tax payments for his 2010 tax year. Ms. Macaulay enclosed copies of the notices of deficiency mailed to petitioner on February 16, 2010.
On March 22, 2011, petitioner mailed a response to Ms. Macaulay's letter of February 23, 2011. Petitioner informed Ms. Macaulay that he would be unable to participate in the March 29, 2011, conference call and again requested a face-to-face hearing. He also requested that Ms. Macaulay provide various documentation, including: proof that petitioner received the notices of deficiency; copies of respondent's assessment of petitioner's tax liability for each of the years in issue; and copies of the rules and procedures governing collection due process hearings. By letter dated April 5, 2011, Ms. Macaulay again explained to petitioner that he was ineligible for a face-to-face hearing because his account was still not current. She gave petitioner 14 days to reschedule a telephone conference. On April 27, 2011, petitioner sent Ms. 2012 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 82">*86 Macaulay another letter again requesting a face-to-face hearing and the documentation he had requested in his March 22, 2011, letter. In that letter, he denied ever having received a notice of deficiency for any of the years in issue.
On May 5, 2011, respondent mailed to petitioner a Notice of Determination Concerning Collection Action(s) Under
Respondent included among the attachments to his motion for summary judgment a declaration by the settlement officer who handled petitioner's case in the Appeals Office, copies of the notices of deficiency for the years in issue, and the envelopes that respondent contends contained the notices of deficiency mailed to petitioner on February 16, 2010. The faces of the envelopes show that they were returned to respondent marked "unclaimed". Accordingly, there is no dispute that petitioner did not actually receive the notices of deficiency. Because it is undisputed that petitioner did not actually receive the notices of deficiency, he would normally have been entitled to challenge the underlying tax liabilities 2012 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 82">*89 at the
Even if the taxpayer did not actually receive the notice of deficiency, we have held that the taxpayer cannot dispute the underlying tax liability where the taxpayer deliberately refused delivery of the notice of deficiency.
Because the instant case is before us on respondent's motion for summary judgment, we view all facts and make all inferences in the light most favorable to petitioner. Respondent contends that petitioner deliberately refused delivery of the notices of deficiency, but petitioner denies that he refused delivery. In similar cases where there was no evidence that the taxpayer deliberately refused delivery 2012 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 82">*90 of the notices of deficiency, we have denied the Commissioner's motions for summary judgment because we concluded that there was a genuine issue of material fact.
Petitioner is not a stranger to the Tax Court. He has previously appeared before us in the case at docket No. 21555-05. In that case, he similarly contended, among other arguments that we deemed to be frivolous and groundless, that he had not received a statutory notice of deficiency. In the instant case, respondent has moved for the Court to impose a penalty pursuant to
In reaching these holdings, we have considered all the parties' arguments, and, to the extent not addressed herein, we conclude that they are moot, irrelevant, or without merit.
To reflect the foregoing,
1. Unless otherwise indicated, section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.↩
2. Because we decide below that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether petitioner refused delivery of the notices of deficiency and therefore whether petitioner is entitled to contest his underlying liabilities, we will deny respondent's motion for summary judgment and his motion for imposition of a penalty pursuant to