- 8 - “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...)Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011