James A. Rochelle - Page 13





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          of not doing so.  We do not believe that a reasonable person, let           
          alone one with petitioner’s legal training, would interpret the             
          mere absence of a stamped petition date following the heading               
          “Last Date to File a Petition With the United States Tax Court”             
          as the grant of an unlimited filing period, particularly given              
          the express provisions to the contrary contained in the body of             
          the notice.  Simply put, this is not a case of taxpayer prejudice           
          which Congress intended to rectify through the addition of the              
          last sentence of section 6213(a).5                                          
               In light of the text of the last sentence of section 6213(a)           
          and its legislative history, we hold that such provision does not           
          operate in the instant case to render petitioner’s petition                 
          timely.                                                                     
          C.   Conclusion                                                             
               The notice of deficiency issued by respondent is valid, and            
          petitioner failed to file a timely petition with this Court.                
          Accordingly, petitioner’s motion to dismiss for lack of                     
          jurisdiction will be denied, and respondent’s motion to dismiss             
          for lack of jurisdiction will be granted.                                   





               5  We do not address in this opinion the situation in which            
          a taxpayer receives a deficiency notice omitting the petition               
          date and files his petition just after expiration of the filing             
          period set forth in the first sentence of sec. 6213(a) due to the           
          taxpayer’s miscalculation thereof.                                          




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