Filed: Dec. 30, 2002
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT _ No. 02-60590 Summary Calendar _ DEBRA L. CHASE, Petitioner - Appellant, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Defendant - Appellee. _ Appeal from the Decision of the United States Tax Court (7206-01L) _ December 27, 2002 Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Appellant Debra L. Chase did not file income tax returns for tax years 1995 and 1996. The Commissioner assessed income taxes for those tax years on th
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT _ No. 02-60590 Summary Calendar _ DEBRA L. CHASE, Petitioner - Appellant, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Defendant - Appellee. _ Appeal from the Decision of the United States Tax Court (7206-01L) _ December 27, 2002 Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Appellant Debra L. Chase did not file income tax returns for tax years 1995 and 1996. The Commissioner assessed income taxes for those tax years on the..
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
_____________________
No. 02-60590
Summary Calendar
_____________________
DEBRA L. CHASE,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE,
Defendant - Appellee.
_________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Decision
of the United States Tax Court
(7206-01L)
_________________________________________________________________
December 27, 2002
Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Appellant Debra L. Chase did not file income tax returns for
tax years 1995 and 1996. The Commissioner assessed income taxes
for those tax years on the basis of wages reported by Chase’s
employer. In July 2000, the Commissioner sent Chase a notice of
intent to levy to collect the assessed taxes for 1995 and 1996.
Chase requested a collection due process hearing. An IRS Appeals
Officer conducted the hearing in January 2001. In April 2001, the
Appeals Officer issued a notice of determination sustaining the
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
notice of intent to levy. The Appeals Officer rejected Chase’s
contention that she had no income from a taxable source.
Chase petitioned the Tax Court for review of the Appeals
Officer’s Decision. The Tax Court granted the Commissioner’s
motion for summary judgment and denied Chase’s cross-motion for
summary judgment. The Tax Court noted that Chase “never identified
the alleged nontaxable source of the income, nor did she expressly
deny receiving the wages in question.” The Tax Court found Chase’s
argument that her wages did not constitute taxable income to be
“frivolous and groundless.”
Chase, pro se, appeals the Tax Court’s decision. Chase argues
that the Tax Court failed to apply the appropriate standard of
review and that it erred by substituting its judgment for that of
the agency and by relying on matters outside the record. She also
argues that the Appeals Officer’s decision was arbitrary,
capricious, or otherwise not in accordance with law, because: (1)
the Appeals Officer failed to obtain proper verification that the
requirements of applicable law or administrative procedure had been
satisfied; (2) the notice of determination issued by the Appeals
Officer contains insufficient findings, reasons and analysis; and
(3) the Appeals Officer refused to consider Chase’s argument that
she had no income from a taxable source after improperly
recharacterizing that argument as being based on “political,
constitutional, conscientious, or similar grounds.”
2
We reject each of Chase’s contentions. The Tax Court applied
the appropriate summary judgment standard and did not substitute
its own judgment for that of the Appeals Officer. Chase cites no
authority for her contention that the Tax Court should have
followed formal adjudication procedures under the Administrative
Procedure Act. According to the Treasury Regulations, the formal
hearing procedures required under the Administrative Procedure Act
do not apply to collection due process hearings. Treas. Reg. §
301.6330-1(d)(2) Q & A D6.
The notice of determination issued by the Appeals Officer
satisfied the requirements of 26 U.S.C. § 6330(c)(3) (setting forth
matters to be considered at collection due process hearing). The
Appeals Officer properly relied on Form 4340 (“Certificate of
Assessments, Payments and Other Specified Matters”) to verify that
the requirements of applicable law or administrative procedure had
been met. See Perez v. United States, ___ F.3d ___, ___,
2002 WL
31506590, at *3 (5th Cir. Nov. 27, 2002) (“IRS Form 4340
constitutes valid evidence of a taxpayer’s assessed liabilities and
the IRS’s notice thereof”). Chase produced no evidence raising any
question about the validity of the assessments.
The notice of determination adequately addressed the matters
specified by the Treasury Regulations. See Treas. Reg. § 301.6330-
1(e)(3) Q & A E8. The regulations do not require formal findings
of fact or detailed legal analysis. See
id.
3
Finally, the Appeals Officer correctly refused to consider
Chase’s baseless argument that she had no income from any taxable
source. As the Tax Court noted, Chase did not identify the alleged
nontaxable source of income and did not deny receiving the wages
upon which the assessments were based.
For the foregoing reasons, the summary judgment in favor of
the Commissioner is
A F F I R M E D.
4