2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*266 Petitioner's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction denied. Respondent's motion to strike language from petition granted.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
GOLDBERG, Special Trial Judge: This matter is before the Court on Respondent's Motion To Strike Portions Of The Petition, filed pursuant to
2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*267 Background
Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner's Federal income tax for the taxable year 1998 in the amount of $ 2,983. The cover page of the notice of deficiency shows a deficiency amount of $ 2,938 for the 1998 taxable year. However, all of the information contained in the explanatory statements accompanying the notice shows the computation of the deficiency amount of $ 2,983. Respondent simply made a $ 45 typographical error on the face of the notice, resulting from the transposition of the last two digits in the deficiency amount.
The notice of deficiency included the following documents: (1) A cover letter titled "Notice of Deficiency"; (2) a Form 870, Waiver of Restrictions on Assessment and Collection of Deficiency in Tax and Acceptance of Overassessment (Waiver Statement); (3) a Form 4089-A, Notice of Deficiency Statement; (4) a Form 5278, Statement -- Income Tax Changes; (5) a statement titled "Explanation of Adjustments"; and (6) a statement titled "1998-Schedule A-Itemized Deductions".
In the Explanation of Adjustments, respondent described in detail the following adjustments made to petitioner's 1998 tax return: 2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*268 (1) Contributions of $ 2,306.78 deducted on Schedule A were disallowed for lack of substantiation; (2) miscellaneous other expenses of $ 2,700.27 deducted on Schedule A were disallowed for lack of substantiation, failure to establish that the expense was ordinary and necessary, and failure to establish that the expense qualifies as a miscellaneous other expense pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code (Code); (3) other miscellaneous deductions of $ 4,074.36 for section 691 expense deducted on Schedule A were disallowed for lack of substantiation and failure to establish that the expense qualifies as an other miscellaneous deduction pursuant to the Code; and (4) interest expense of $ 4,665.21 deducted on Schedule C was disallowed for lack of substantiation, failure to establish that the expense was ordinary and necessary, and failure to establish that the expense qualifies as interest pursuant to the Code.
On the Statement -- Income Tax Changes, respondent increased petitioner's taxable income by the disallowed amounts described above and revised petitioner's taxable income for the year at issue. In accordance with the revised taxable income, respondent determined an increase in petitioner's2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*269 income tax of $ 2,983. The increased income tax amount of $ 2,983 was also reflected on the Waiver Statement and the Notice of Deficiency Statement.
Petitioner filed a petition with the Court, attaching an 8-page statement that included a "detailed explanation of disagreement" with respondent's determinations and a request for a finding that the notice of deficiency is invalid on its face.
Respondent filed a Motion To Strike Portions Of The Petition, requesting the Court to strike various sentences in paragraphs 1 through 7 of petitioner's statement attached to the petition. Respondent asserts that the language sought to be stricken in the petition is not proper, does not comply with the Rules, and makes frivolous, vague, and immaterial allegations and assertions with no factual basis.
Petitioner's Opposition To Respondent's Motion To Strike Portions Of The Petition was filed claiming respondent's motion has no merit. Petitioner claims that each paragraph in the petition contains a clear and concise assignment of error committed by respondent. Further, petitioner contends that respondent misinterprets
Discussion
1. Petitioner's Oral Motion To Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction
We first consider petitioner's oral motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction due to an invalid notice of deficiency. If we sustain petitioner's motion, finding the notice to be invalid, the Court will lack jurisdiction to hear this case and respondent's motion to strike will become moot. Accordingly, the Court's jurisdiction over this matter is resolved initially.
The United States Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction. See
A notice of deficiency is intended to serve two purposes.
In
For purposes of determining whether the notice of deficiency provides sufficient information to apprise the taxpayer that the Commissioner has determined a deficiency in tax, a notice of deficiency includes the cover page and all attached pages and documents.
If a notice of deficiency otherwise fulfills its purpose, we have held that a mathematical error in the notice will not invalidate2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*272 the notice where the taxpayer is not misled by the error. See
Despite a trivial transposition error on the cover page of the notice of deficiency, petitioner was adequately informed of the income tax and issues in controversy by the notice of deficiency. The petition indicates that petitioner was not misled by the transposition error; rather, petitioner was fully aware of the typographical error's existence. The notice of deficiency was not misleading and put petitioner on notice that respondent had determined a deficiency in his Federal income tax for the year at issue. We attach no credence to petitioner's argument that he was misled by such an insignificant error.
Petitioner cites
In Scar, the taxpayers received a notice of2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*273 deficiency that disallowed a loss deduction from a partnership in which the taxpayers owned no interest. Further, the notice computed a tax due using the highest marginal tax rate at the time. In considering whether the notice of deficiency was valid, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a notice of deficiency is invalid if it is clear from the notice itself that the Commissioner had not reviewed the taxpayers' return or otherwise made a determination of a deficiency with respect to the taxpayers' liability for the particular taxable year.
The courts applying Scar have limited the rule established in the case to its specific facts. See
Here the facts2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*274 are in no way analogous to the facts in Scar. Respondent did review petitioner's 1998 tax return and made adjustments to petitioner's Schedule A and Schedule C. Based on those adjustments, respondent determined a deficiency in tax for the tax year at issue. The transposition error on the cover page does not affect the validity of the notice.
Furthermore, the holding in Foster is inapplicable here and does not stand for the proposition asserted by petitioner. See
Additionally, petitioner cites
We find the transposition error in the notice of2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*275 deficiency to be inconsequential and hold that the notice of deficiency is valid. Consequently, we deny petitioner's oral motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.
2. Respondent's Motion To Strike Portions of the Petition
Pursuant to
Under
A motion to strike matter from a pleading will be granted only if the moving party establishes (1) that the matter has no possible bearing upon the subject matter of the litigation, and (2) that prejudice will result to the moving party if the motion is not granted.
A petition must contain (1) clear and concise assignments of each and every error which the petitioner alleges to have been committed by the Commissioner in the determination of the deficiency, and (2) clear and concise lettered statements of the facts on which petitioner bases the assignments of error.
The portions of the petition which respondent seeks to strike include various code sections, regulations, public laws, a revenue ruling, and several cases from this Court and other Federal courts. In addition, the petition includes petitioner's opinions, arguments, legal theories, and conclusions.
We have read the petition and find that the matter which respondent seeks to strike from the petition has no possible bearing upon the subject matter of the litigation. The objectionable material does not contain assignments of errors or statements of facts as required by the Rules. See
Petitioner is not prejudiced in any way by striking this language. With the language stricken, any justiciable assignment of error or statement of fact on which petitioner relies remains2002 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 266">*277 in the petition. Additionally, petitioner is free to raise legal arguments, cite authority, and draw conclusions therefrom at the proper time. Striking the matter from the petition is warranted by
Accordingly, respondent's motion to strike the language from the petition will be granted, and our order will specify what portions of the petition are to be stricken.
To reflect the foregoing,
An appropriate order will be issued.