- 11 - Id. at 59. Distinguishing other cases, the Court observed that "The filing of the petition was timely in all of those cases and obviously the taxpayer had suffered no damage and had lost no right as a result of the error in the address. However, those cases do not justify a holding here that Heaberlin had waived anything by filing a petition after the expiration of the 90 days". Id. In Mulvania v. Commissioner, supra, the taxpayer had actual notice, through his accountant (who had received a copy), that a notice of deficiency had been sent to him. The notice was sent to St. Linda Isle Drive rather than to the taxpayer's correct address at 57 Linda Isle Drive. However, affirming the Tax Court's order of dismissal, the Court of Appeals concluded that "The IRS is not forgiven for its clerical errors or for mailing notice to the wrong party unless the taxpayer, through his own actions, renders the Commissioner's error harmless. In this case, the notice of deficiency became null and void when it was returned to the IRS undelivered." Id. at 1380. In Council v. Burke, supra, the taxpayers did not file a timely petition and challenged the validity of a misaddressed notice of deficiency. In that case, the Commissioner offered testimonial evidence, similar to that offered here, that the letter carrier might have delivered the notice of deficiency to the correct address even though it was misaddressed. ThePage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
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