1998 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 118">*118 An order of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction will be entered.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
GERBER, JUDGE: This case is before the Court on respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, filed August 13, 1997. Respondent contends that this case should be dismissed because the petition was not filed within 90 days after the notice of deficiency was mailed pursuant to
Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner's Federal income taxes and additions to tax as follows:
Additions to Tax | |||
Year | Deficiency | Sec. 6651(a)(1) | Sec. 6654(a) |
1989 | $ 24,015 | $ 5,325 | $ 1,421 |
1990 | 1,620,549 | 404,870 | 106,623 |
BACKGROUND
At the time the petition in this case was filed, petitioner resided in Van Nuys, California.
The notice of deficiency was mailed on April 9, 1996. Respondent mailed copies of the notice of 1998 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 118">*119 deficiency to petitioner at each of the following seven addresses: (1) 5030 West 131st Street, Hawthorne, California 90250-5021; (2) 117 24th Street, Manhattan Beach, California 90266; (3) 708 Concord Street, Glendale, California 91202; (4) 720 Concord Street, Glendale, California 91202; (5) 1500 Turks Head Building, Providence, Rhode Island 02903; (6) 311-1/2 Winnepeg Place, Long Beach, California 90814-2564; and (7) c/o Patricia Masino, 311-1/2 Winnepeg Place, Long Beach, California 90814-2564. Petitioner has lived at five of these addresses.
At the time the notice of deficiency was mailed, petitioner was living at 14767 Delano Street #204, Van Nuys, California (Van Nuys address). It is unclear from the record when petitioner moved to this address. Petitioner actually received a copy of the notice of deficiency in late April 1996. A friend of petitioner who was residing at the 720 Concord Street address received the notice of deficiency mailed to that address and gave it to petitioner in late April 1996. Ninety days from the date the notice was mailed was July 8, 1996. The petition was dated June 19, 1996; however, it was not mailed until July 9, 1996, 91 days after the notice was1998 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 118">*120 mailed to petitioner, and was filed on July 12, 1996.
Petitioner did not file tax returns for taxable year 1989 through 1995. Respondent became aware of a change of address for petitioner in mid-1992, before petitioner had moved to the Van Nuys address. In 1997, petitioner filed a tax return for the 1996 taxable year which updated petitioner's address in respondent's computer files and deleted the address notification received by respondent in 1992.
Petitioner was arrested on Federal money-laundering charges in 1991 and convicted in 1993. Following his arrest, petitioner was was required to report any changes of address to the office of pretrial services of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Petitioner's reporting requirement was in effect in April 1996. Sometime before April 9, 1996, the date that the notice of deficiency was mailed, petitioner notified the office of pretrial services of his Van Nuys address. Petitioner was not incarcerated when the notice of deficiency was issued.
Petitioner contends that for purposes of
DISCUSSION
The jurisdiction of this Court to redetermine a tax deficiency depends upon the issuance of a valid notice of deficiency and the timely filing of a petition.
Petitioner maintains that his last known address is the Van Nuys address. Petitioner contends that he reported his Van Nuys address to the office of pretrial services of the U.S. District Court in connection with the Federal money laundering case prior to the date that the notice of deficiency was mailed. Petitioner argues that because respondent was involved in his criminal prosecution, the address notification to the office of pretrial services should be imputed to respondent for purposes of determining his last known address, citing
Neither the Code nor the regulations define a taxpayer's "last known address". A taxpayer's last known address is the address to which, in light of all surrounding facts and circumstances, respondent reasonably believed the taxpayer wished the notice of deficiency to be sent.
In
Petitioner concedes that he received the deficiency notice in late April 1996, after the notice was mailed on April 9, 1996. Actual receipt of a notice of deficiency by the taxpayer, without prejudicial delay, eliminates the need for us to determine whether the notice was mailed to the taxpayer's last known address.
Assuming that petitioner received the notice of deficiency on the last day of the month, April 30, 1996, 1998 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 118">*127 he would have had at least 69 days remaining in the 90-day filing period to file a petition. We have held that receipt of a notice of deficiency that was incorrectly addressed with 69 or fewer days before the expiration of the filing period is not prejudicial.
Petitioner argues that 69 days was not sufficient time to file a petition in this case because he was heavily involved in the posttrial and sentencing phase of his Federal money laundering conviction at the time the notice of deficiency was issued. 1998 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 118">*128 In addition, petitioner contends that the deficiency was determined using information from the Federal money laundering case and it was necessary for him to review the large volume of evidence in the money laundering case to verify the accuracy of the statements in the petition before filing it. In this regard, petitioner argues that the delay in receiving the notice was prejudicial.
Despite petitioner's explanations, we find that petitioner's own inaction was responsible for the late filing. The substantive issues in this case do not appear complex and involve petitioner's failure to report income from illegal activities. Petitioner completed the one-page petition over 2 weeks before he mailed it. The petition does not contain any factual allegations as to the correct amount of petitioner's taxable income for the years in issue. On the facts of this case, we find that petitioner received the notice of deficiency with sufficient time to file a petition. Petitioner's failure to file a timely petition was not the result of any possible error in the address to which the notice of deficiency was mailed. Accordingly, we find that the notice was valid and grant respondent's motion to dismiss1998 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 118">*129 for lack of jurisdiction.
To reflect the foregoing,
An order of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction will be entered.
1. All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the years at issue.↩