MEMORANDUM OPINION
VASQUEZ,
The parties submitted this case fully stipulated pursuant to
On September 30, 1993, petitioner and his wife filed a petition under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California (1993 bankruptcy case). On March 18, 1998, petitioner's 1993 bankruptcy case was converted to a chapter 7 case. On July 12, 1998, the Bankruptcy Court entered a discharge order in petitioner's 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 237">*238 1993 bankruptcy case.
On February 15, 1998, petitioner and his wife filed delinquent joint income tax returns for 1994, 1995, and 1996, reporting $ 5,908.36, $ 7,416, and $ 2,171 of tax due, respectively. Petitioner and his wife did not make any payments with the returns, and the returns did not claim any prepayment credits. 2 During March 1998, respondent assessed the taxes reported on, and the interest and additions to tax related to, the 1994, 1995, and 1996 returns.
Petitioner and his wife timely filed a joint income tax return for 1998, reporting tax due of $ 14,768 and withholding credits of $ 1,764. Petitioner and his wife did not make any payment with the return. On May 31, 1999, respondent assessed the tax reported on, and the interest and additions to tax related to, the 1998 return.
On February 25, 2001, petitioner and his wife filed a delinquent joint income tax return for 1999, reporting $ 16,965 of tax due and withholding credits of $ 3,032. 3 On March 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 237">*239 26, 2001, respondent assessed the tax reported on, and the interest and penalties related to, the 1999 return.
Beginning on June 4, 1999, and ending on May 4, 2001, petitioner and his wife paid $ 750 per month toward their outstanding income tax liabilities. Respondent applied $ 6,000 of those payments to petitioner's outstanding 1985 liability, $ 10,500 toward petitioner's then-outstanding 1997 liability, and $ 750 toward petitioner's 1998 liability.
On January 12, 2004, respondent issued to petitioner a Final Notice -- Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing with respect to petitioner's unpaid income tax liabilities for 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 1999 (the years at issue). On February 10, 2004, petitioner sent to respondent a Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing. In the Form 12153, petitioner stated that he "does not agree with the notice of intent to levy in this case for the simple reason that the taxpayer does 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 237">*240 not owe the tax stated in the notice."
Petitioner's section 6330 hearing was assigned to Settlement Officer Greg Clark (Settlement Officer Clark). Petitioner's section 6330 hearing consisted of telephone calls and correspondence between Settlement Officer Clark and petitioner's representative and attorney herein, William D. Hartsock.
Petitioner raised three issues during the section 6330 hearing. First, petitioner argued that respondent erroneously applied payments petitioner made pursuant to an alleged installment agreement to petitioner's 1985 tax liability because the alleged installment agreement required that respondent apply petitioner's payments to the years at issue. Second, petitioner claimed that respondent should have applied alleged overpayments from year(s) prior to 1994, 4 which petitioner contended resulted from a discharge of these liabilities in a separate bankruptcy case (i.e., a case other than petitioner's 1993 bankruptcy case), to reduce petitioner's liabilities for the years in issue. Third, petitioner expressed his intent to submit an offer-incompromise with regard to his outstanding tax liabilities for the years in issue; however, he did not submit an offer-in-compromise 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 237">*241 as part of his section 6330 hearing.
On July 13, 2005, after reviewing the correspondence and documents that petitioner submitted, respondent issued to petitioner a Notice of Determination Concerning Collection Action(s) Under
When the Commissioner issues a determination regarding a disputed collection action,
We have previously held that this Court has jurisdiction in a levy proceeding instituted pursuant to
Petitioner argued that respondent erred in applying payments petitioner made pursuant to an alleged installment agreement to petitioner's 1985 tax liability because the alleged installment agreement required that respondent apply petitioner's payments to the years at issue. We have jurisdiction to consider whether a payment that should have been applied to reduce the outstanding liability for a year at issue was wrongly applied to a liability for another year.
Petitioner failed to introduce any evidence regarding the alleged installment agreement or its terms. If a party fails to introduce evidence within that party's possession, we may presume that, if produced, the evidence would be unfavorable to that party.
Petitioner also argued that respondent erred by failing to apply alleged overpayments for years prior to the years in issue to reduce petitioner's liabilities for the years in issue. See
Petitioner has failed to raise a spousal defense, make a valid challenge to the appropriateness of respondent's intended collection action, or offer alternative means of collection.
We therefore sustain respondent's determination to proceed with collection of petitioner's 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 1999 income tax liabilities.
In reaching all of our holdings herein, we have considered all the parties' arguments, and, to the extent not herein discussed, we find them to be irrelevant or without 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 237">*246 merit.
To reflect the foregoing,
1. Internal Revenue Code, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.↩
2. Petitioner and his wife claimed, and respondent allowed, an earned income credit of $ 1,726 for 1996.↩
3. On Apr. 15, 2000, petitioner and his wife filed a request for an extension of time to file, which respondent granted. A payment of $ 3,500 accompanied that request.↩
4. At various times during his sec. 6330 hearing, petitioner identified the prior year(s) as (1) 1985 through 1988, (2) 1987 through 1988, or (3) 1984 (on brief, however, petitioner referred only to 1984).↩
5. The record does not reveal whether, in petitioner's 1993 bankruptcy case, respondent submitted any proofs of claims for the liabilities in issue. Accordingly,