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Postal Service Form 3877.2 Nor did respondent provide the Court
with evidence that normal office procedures were followed when
the notice of deficiency purportedly was prepared and mailed.
We are aware, from the many cases we have considered
relating to the preparation and mailing of notices of deficiency,
that the IRS has certain internal controls and procedures in the
mailing of a notice of deficiency. We have no information that
any of the controls or procedures for preparation or the mailing
of a notice of deficiency were followed in this case. The record
contains numerous letters from petitioner in response to the IRS
referring to the years raised in the petition. However, there is
no correspondence from petitioner referring to a notice of
deficiency dated August 24, 1995. Thus, there is nothing in this
case, apart from the Form 3877 itself, to support a presumption
of regularity by the IRS. Pietanza v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. at
739; cf. United States v. Ahrens, 530 F.2d 781, 785 (8th Cir.
1976).
In sum, respondent failed to prove that she issued a notice
of deficiency to petitioner respecting the taxable years 1991,
1992, and 1993. Accordingly, we will dismiss this case for lack
2 This case is appealable to the Court of Appeals for the
Fourth Circuit. See Powell v. Commissioner, 958 F.2d 53, 56-57
(4th Cir. 1992), revg. and remanding an unpublished order of this
Court, where a notice of deficiency, which was not sent to the
taxpayers' last known address, was returned by the Postal Service
but could not be found in the IRS administrative file.
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