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Section 6212(a) provides that if the Commissioner determines
a deficiency in income tax, “he is authorized to send notice of
such deficiency to the taxpayer by certified mail or registered
mail.” The purpose of this provision is to provide the taxpayer
with actual notice of the deficiency in a timely manner, so that
the taxpayer will have an opportunity to seek a redetermination
of such deficiency in the prepayment forum offered by this Court.
See Smith v. Commissioner, supra at 490-491; McKay v.
Commissioner, 89 T.C. 1063, 1067 (1987), affd. 886 F.2d 1237 (9th
Cir. 1989). In this case, the notice of deficiency was received
by petitioner within days of its mailing. The statutory goal of
providing the taxpayer with actual notice of the deficiency
determination in a timely manner was therefore satisfied.
Although the notice of deficiency failed to provide the
petition date, the notice was by no means devoid of information
regarding the time frame in which petitioner had to file his Tax
Court petition. The notice clearly stated that the petition had
to be filed within 90 days of the mailing of the notice. In
addition, the necessity of filing a timely petition was
emphasized in underscored type.
Furthermore, petitioner was not prejudiced by the
respondent’s failure to specify the petition date in the notice.
The legislative materials accompanying section 3463 of RRA 1998
reveal that Congress was concerned about taxpayers who, due to a
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Last modified: May 25, 2011