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contend that the statutory 90-day filing period should not begin
until petitioners actually received the notices of deficiency.
Discussion
Section 6212(a) provides that, when a deficiency in tax is
determined to exist, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized
to send a notice of deficiency by certified mail to a taxpayer.
Section 6212(b)(1) provides, with an exception not relevant
herein, that the notice authorized pursuant to section 6212(a)
shall be sufficient if it is mailed to the taxpayer at the
taxpayer's "last known address". Respondent has the burden of
proving that the notice of deficiency was properly mailed.
August v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 1535, 1536 (1970).
If a notice of deficiency is mailed to a taxpayer within the
United States, the taxpayer may file a petition in this Court
within 90 days after the notice of deficiency is mailed. Sec.
6213(a). For purposes of computing the 90-day filing period,
timely mailing is timely filing. Sec. 7502(a). A valid notice
of deficiency and a timely petition are essential to this Court's
jurisdiction, and any case in which one or the other is not
present must be dismissed. Monge v. Commissioner, 93 T.C. 22, 27
(1989); Pyo v. Commissioner, 83 T.C. 626, 632 (1984).
A notice of deficiency is valid, regardless of actual
receipt by the taxpayer, if it is mailed to the taxpayer's "last
known address". Sec. 6212(b)(1); see Yusko v. Commissioner, 89
T.C. 806, 810 (1987); King v. Commissioner, 88 T.C. 1042, 1047
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