2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*34 Respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction granted.
In conjunction with a criminal prosecution for tax evasion,
P executed a Plea Agreement in which he agreed to file
delinquent Federal income tax returns and report specific
amounts of income. After assessing the tax liabilities reported
on the delinquent returns, R sent P a notice of deficiency
determining only additions to tax for fraudulent failure to file
and failure to pay estimated tax under
redetermination. R moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction,
arguing that the deficiency notice was invalid because R had not
determined any "deficiency" as defined in
I.R.C.
Held: This Court lacks jurisdiction over the
additions to tax for fraudulent failure to file because such
additions are not attributable to a deficiency.
I.R.C.
Held, further, This Court lacks jurisdiction
over the additions to tax for failure2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*35 to pay estimated tax
because P actually filed returns for the years in issue. Sec.
118 T.C. 537">*538 OPINION
DAWSON, Judge: This case was assigned to Special Trial Judge Robert N. Armen, Jr., pursuant to the provisions of section 7443A(b)(5) and Rules 180, 181, and 183. 1 The Court agrees with and adopts the opinion of the Special Trial Judge, which is set forth below.
OPINION OF THE SPECIAL TRIAL JUDGE
ARMEN, Special Trial Judge: This matter is before the Court on respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction. Respondent asserts that jurisdiction2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*36 is lacking because "no deficiency is raised in the notice of deficiency, pursuant to
Background
On July 2, 1999, petitioner executed a Plea Agreement pursuant to
The defendant will file with the Internal Revenue Service
delinquent individual income tax returns, Forms 1040, for the
years 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, reporting, as income to him,
diverted corporate receipts and dividend income totaling
$ 328,915, $ 176,376, $ 222,472, and $ 251,839, respectively.
On March 22, 2000, petitioner filed U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040, 2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*37 for 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 in compliance with the Plea Agreement. Petitioner reported tax liabilities of $ 95,778, $ 48,262, $ 72,760, and $ 84,247 for the years 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, respectively.
On September 13, 2001, respondent issued to petitioner a notice of deficiency. In the notice, respondent determined that although petitioner is not liable for any deficiencies in 118 T.C. 537">*539 income taxes, he is liable for additions to tax under
Additions to Tax
Year Tax
1991 --- $ 71,834 $ 5,474
1992 --- 36,197 2,105
1993 --- 54,570 3,049
1994 --- 63,185 4,372
On December 6, 2001, petitioner timely filed with the Court a petition for redetermination, challenging the above-described notice of deficiency. At the time that the petition was filed, petitioner resided in Holly, Michigan.
In response to the petition, respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction on the ground that the2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*38 notice of deficiency is invalid because respondent did not determine any "deficiency" within the meaning of
Discussion
The Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, and we may exercise our jurisdiction only to the extent authorized by statute.
The pivotal issue in this case is whether respondent determined a "deficiency" in petitioner's Federal income tax within the meaning of
Consistent with
Tax. -- For purposes of2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*40 subchapter B of chapter 63 (relating to
deficiency procedures for income, estate, gift, and certain
excise taxes), subsection (a) shall not apply to any addition to
tax under
--
(1) in the case of an addition described in section
6651, to that portion of such addition which is
attributable to a deficiency in tax described in section
6211; or
(2) to an addition described in
if no return is filed for the taxable year.
In sum,
The record in this case shows that, consistent with a criminal plea agreement, petitioner filed delinquent Federal income2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*41 tax returns for 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994. Respondent accepted those returns as filed and immediately assessed the taxes reported therein. See sec. 6201(a)(1);
Respondent also determined that petitioner is liable for additions to tax for fraudulently failing to timely file his tax returns and failing to pay estimated taxes for the years in question. Applying the plain language of
Finally, we repeat what we said nearly 30 years ago in a case similar to the present one:
We recognize the difficult position in which petitioners
are placed by not being able to come to the Tax Court to test
the validity of the respondent's action in asserting the
penalty. Nevertheless, that is the law and we must take it as we
find it.
To reflect the foregoing,
An order will be entered granting respondent's Motion to Dismiss2002 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34">*43 for Lack of Jurisdiction.
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.↩
2. During the hearing, counsel for respondent argued that although the Court lacks jurisdiction to redetermine the additions to tax in question pursuant to its deficiency jurisdiction under sec. 6213(a), the Court may have the authority to review such additions to tax pursuant to its collection review jurisdiction under secs. 6320 and 6330.↩