- 9 - under section 6330 although she did not actually receive a notice of deficiency. On the basis of Erhard v. Commissioner, 87 F.3d 273 (9th Cir. 1996), affg. T.C. Memo. 1994-344, and Patmon & Young Profl. Corp. v. Commissioner, 55 F.3d 216, 218 (6th Cir. 1995), affg. T.C. Memo. 1993-143, we held that the conduct of the wife and her husband “constituted deliberate refusal of delivery and repudiation of their opportunity to contest the notices of deficiency in this Court”. Sego v. Commissioner, supra at 611; accord Baxter v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-300. We believe that the same principle applies here. Although Mr. Carey testified that he did not know that the Commissioner was attempting to deliver a notice of deficiency to him and his wife, the facts and circumstances of this case, coupled with our observation of Mr. Carey during his testimony, lead us to conclude that petitioners deliberately refused delivery of the notice. First, absent clear evidence to the contrary, employees of the USPS are presumed to properly discharge their official duties. United States v. Chem. Found., Inc., 272 U.S. 1, 14-15 (1926) (“The presumption of regularity supports the official acts of public officers and, in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, courts presume that they have properly discharged their official duties.”). Petitioners have not rebutted this presumption as to the USPS’s attempted delivery of the notices of deficiency. Second, the Lawrence address housed a small businessPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
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