- 5 - dischargeability of the tax deficiency in the bankruptcy proceeding. On December 19, 1996, respondent mailed a statutory notice of deficiency to petitioner for his 1991 taxable year. The deficiency apparently resulted from disallowances of certain claimed deductions related to petitioner's businesses. On March 11, 1997, petitioner timely filed a petition to this Court. The Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, and its powers may not exceed those conferred by statute. Sec. 7442; Magazine v. Commissioner, 89 T.C. 321, 326 (1987); Burns, Stix Friedman & Co. v. Commissioner, 57 T.C. 392, 396 (1971). This Court lacks the requisite subject matter jurisdiction to decide whether a taxpayer's deficiency was discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding. Neilson v. Commissioner, 94 T.C. 1, 9 (1990). As a general rule, this Court's jurisdiction to consider tax matters depends on a notice of deficiency and a timely filed petition. Secs. 6212 and 6213; Rule 13; Neilson v. Commissioner, supra. The redetermination of an income tax deficiency has "nothing to do with collection of the tax nor any similarity to an action for collection of a debt, nor does it involve any other rights and remedies of the sort traditionally enforced in an action at law." Swanson v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 1180, 1184 (1976). Accordingly, although we lack jurisdiction to determine whether petitioner's deficiency had been discharged inPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
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