Gati v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

Decision Date11 August 1999
Docket NumberNo. 3730–99.,3730–99.
CitationGati v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue, 113 T.C. 132, 113 T.C. No. 8 (T.C. 1999)
PartiesIvan and Betty Lee Turner GATI, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL Revenue, Respondent
CourtU.S. Tax Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

On Aug. 13, 1998, R mailed a final determination letter to Ps denying their request for abatement of interest for the taxable year 1978.On Feb. 17, 1999, Ps filed an imperfect petition for review with the Court under sec. 6404(g), I.R.C.Held: This case will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the petition was not filed with the Court within the 180–day period prescribed in sec. 6404(g)(1), I.R.C.Ivan and Betty Lee Turner Gati, pro se.

Pamela Wilson Fuller and Oleida Mendiburt, for respondent.

OPINION

DAWSON, J.

This case was assigned to Chief Special Trial Judge Peter J. Panuthos pursuant to Rules 180,181, and183.Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Codeas amended, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.

The Court agrees with and adopts the opinion of the Special Trial Judge, which is set forth below.

OPINION OF THE SPECIAL TRIAL JUDGE

PANUTHOS, Chief Special Trial Judge: This matter is before the Court on respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction.The question presented is whether the petition was filed within the 180–day period prescribed in section 6404(g)(1).(Section 6404(g) was redesignated section 6404(i) under the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pub.L. 105–206, secs. 3305(a) and 3309(a),112 Stat. 743, 745, effective with respect to tax years beginning after December 31, 1997.)

Background

On August 13, 1998, respondent mailed a final determination letter to petitioners denying their request for an abatement of interest for the taxable year 1978.The final determination letter was mailed to petitionersat 47 Halstead Avenue, Harrison, N.Y. 10528 (the Halstead Avenue address).

On February 17, 1999, petitioners filed an imperfect petition for review of respondent's failure to grant their request for abatement of interest.The petition arrived at the Court in an envelope bearing a U.S. Postal Service postmark date of February 15, 1999.At the time the petition was filed, petitioners resided at the Halstead Avenue address.

In response to the petition, respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction asserting that the petition was not filed within the 180–day period prescribed in section 6404(g)(1).Respondent provided the Court with a copy of Postal Service Form 3877 as proof that the final determination letter was mailed to petitioners on August 13, 1998.Petitioners filed an objection to respondent's motion to dismiss asserting that respondent had unreasonably delayed in denying their request for abatement and that they should not be denied their day in court.

This matter was called for hearing at the Court's motions session in Washington, D.C. Counsel for respondent appeared at the hearing and presented argument in support of the pending motion.Petitioners filed a written statement with the Court pursuant to Rule 50(c) and no appearance was made on their behalf at the hearing.

Discussion

The Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, and we may exercise our jurisdiction only to the extent authorized by Congress.SeeNaftel v. Commissioner,85 T.C. 527, 529(1985).

Section 6404(g), enacted by section 302(a) of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, Pub.L. 104–168, 110 Stat. 1452, 1457(1996), prescribes the Court's jurisdiction to review the Commissioner's failure to grant a taxpayer's request for abatement of interest.Section 6404(g) provides in pertinent part:

SEC. 6404(g).Review of Denial of Request for Abatement of Interest.—

(1) In general.—The Tax Court shall have jurisdiction over any action brought by a taxpayer who meets the requirements referred to in section 7430(c)(4)(A)(ii) to determine whether the Secretary's failure to abate interest under this section was an abuse of discretion, and may order an abatement, if such action is brought within 180 days after the date of the mailing of the Secretary's final determination not to abate such interest.

(2) Special rules.—

(A) Date of mailing.Rules similar to the rules of section 6213 shall apply for purposes of determining the date of the mailing referred to in paragraph (1).

Consistent with section 6404(g)(1), the Court's jurisdiction is dependent upon a valid final determination letter and a timely filed petition for review.SeeRule 280(b);White v. Commissioner,109 T.C. 96, 98(1997);Banat v. Commissioner,109 T.C. 92, 95(1997).In addition, the taxpayer must meet the requirements of section 7430(c)(4)(A)(ii).SeeRule 280(b)(2).

The Commissioner's final determination letter “is a prerequisite to the Court's jurisdiction and serves as a taxpayer's ‘ticket’ to the Tax Court.Bourekis v. Commissioner,110 T.C. 20, 26(1998);seeKraft v. Commissioner,T.C. Memo.1997–476.Consistent with principles applied in deficiency cases brought under section 6213(a), it is sufficient for jurisdictional purposes if the Commissioner mails the final determination letter to the taxpayer's “last known address”.See, e.g., Frieling v. Commissioner,81 T.C. 42, 52(1983).Further, if a final determination letter is mailed to the taxpayer's last known address, actual receipt of the letter is immaterial.See, e.g., King v. Commissioner,857 F.2d 676, 679(9th Cir.1988), affg.88 T.C. 1042(1987).The taxpayer, in turn, has 180 days from the date the final determination letter is mailed to file a petition for review with the Court.Seesec. 6404(g)(1).

There is no dispute in this case that respondent mailed the final determination letter to petitioners on August 13, 1998.In addition, petitioners do not...

Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI

Get Started for Free

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex
13 cases
  • Meyer v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue
    • United States
    • U.S. Tax Court
    • November 07, 2000
    ...determination letter is a taxpayer's “ticket” to the Tax Court. See Offiler v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 492, 498, (2000). See also Mulvania v. Commissioner, 81 T.C. 65, 67, 1983 WL 14912 (1983); see also Gati v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 132, 134, 1999 WL 601010 (1999). Moreover, a petition for review under section 6330 must be filed with the appropriate court within 30 days of the mailing of the determination letter. See McCune v. Commissioner, 115 T.C....
  • Weiler v. Commissioner
    • United States
    • U.S. Tax Court
    • August 25, 2003
    ...Id. at 530. Consistent with section 6404(h)(1), the Court's jurisdiction over interest abatement cases depends on a valid notice of final determination and a timely filed petition for review. See Rule 280(b); Gati v. Commissioner [Dec. 53,500], 113 T.C. 132, 134 (1999). But cf. Katz v. Commissioner [Dec. 54,081], 115 T.C. 329, 340-341 (2000). The Court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the Commissioner's failure to abate interest under section 6404 constitutes...
  • Word v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, T.C. Summary Opinion 2008-27 (U.S.T.C. 3/11/2008)
    • United States
    • U.S. Tax Court
    • March 11, 2008
    ...Id. at 530. Consistent with section 6404(h)(1), the Court's jurisdiction over interest abatement cases depends on a valid notice of final determination and a timely filed petition for review. See Rule 280(b); Gati v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 132, 134 (1999). But Katz v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 329, 340-341 (2000). The Court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the Commissioner's failure to abate interest under section 6404 constitutes an abuse of discretion...
  • Ewing v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue
    • United States
    • U.S. Tax Court
    • May 31, 2002
    ...6015(f) where no deficiency has been asserted. The Tax Court may exercise jurisdiction only to the extent authorized by Congress. Fernandez v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 324, 328, 2000 WL 565108 (2000); Gati v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 132, 133, 1999 WL 601010 (1999). 2 Whether this Court has jurisdiction is fundamental and may be raised by a party or on the Court's own motion. Fernandez v. Commissioner, supra at 328; Naftel v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 527,...
  • Get Started for Free