- 17 -
deficiency and listing the taxable year as well as the amounts of
the deficiency and additions to tax, (2) a Form 5564 "Notice of
Deficiency-Waiver", and (3) several pages purportedly explaining
the adjustments. Although the cover letter and the waiver form
clearly related to the taxpayers, the Commissioner had
inadvertently attached to the notice a seven-page explanation of
adjustments for an unrelated taxpayer. In response, the
taxpayers filed a petition (and later a motion to dismiss)
attacking the validity of the notice of deficiency under Scar.
Id. at 111.
Upon review of the matter, we distinguished Scar and denied
the taxpayers' motion to dismiss. Specifically, we noted that
the first two pages of the deficiency notice clearly referred to
the taxpayers as the subjects of the notice. While the
explanation of adjustments certainly caused confusion, there was
no indication in the notice that the Commissioner had failed to
consider information relating to the taxpayers in making the
deficiency determination. Id. at 113. Viewing the record as a
whole, we concluded that the Commissioner had determined a
deficiency against the taxpayers and inadvertently attached the
wrong computational sheets to the notice of deficiency. Id.
Subsequent to Campbell, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit revisited Scar in Clapp v. Commissioner, 875 F.2d 1396
(9th Cir. 1989). In Clapp, separate notices of deficiency were
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011