Brian and Tina Nicklaus - Page 8




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          “by an assessment officer signing the summary record of assess-             
          ment”, sec. 301.6203-1, Proced. & Admin. Regs., the summary                 
          record of assessments that respondent uses to comply with that              
          regulation is Form 23C, Assessment Certificate--Summary Record of           
          Assessments, and not Form 4340, Certificate of Assessments and              
          Payments.5                                                                  
               The courts have generally held that Form 4340 provides at              
          least presumptive evidence that a tax has been validly assessed             
          under section 6203.  Davis v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 35, 40                 
          (2000)(citing, inter alia, Huff v. United States, 10 F.3d 1440,             
          1445 (9th Cir. 1993); Hefti v. IRS, 8 F.3d 1169, 1172 (7th Cir.             
          1993); Farr v. United States, 990 F.2d 451, 454 (9th Cir. 1993)).           
          We conclude that Forms 4340 that respondent prepared with respect           
          to petitioners’ respective tax liabilities for taxable years 1993           
          through 1996 establish that respondent properly assessed those              
          liabilities6 and that those liabilities remain unpaid.  Petition            


               5Petitioners rely on Brafman v. United States, 384 F.2d 863            
          (5th Cir. 1967), to support their position that, in order for               
          there to be valid assessments of their respective tax liabilities           
          for petitioners’ taxable years 1993 through 1996, one of respon-            
          dent’s assessment officers was required to sign and date Forms              
          4340 that respondent prepared with respect to those years.                  
          Petitioners’ reliance on Brafman is misplaced.  Brafman involved            
          Form 23C, Assessment Certificate--Summary Record of Assessments;            
          it did not involve Form 4340, Certificate of Assessments and                
          Payments.                                                                   
               6Forms 4340 in question show that on Aug. 24 and 31, 1998,             
          respectively, respondent assessed on Forms 23C petitioners’                 
          respective tax liabilities (1) for taxable years 1993 and 1994              
                                                             (continued...)           





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