- 13 - Because the 1991 extensions, on their face, do not indicate whether the extension particulars (i.e., taxable years, assessment dates, outstanding liabilities, and extension expiration dates) were filled in before or after petitioner signed them, Appeals Officer Mazaroli’s finding that petitioner signed completed, not blank, extensions was based upon the presumption of official regularity. That presumption “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.” United States v. Chem. Found., Inc., 272 U.S. 1, 14-15 (1926); see also R.H. Stearns Co. v. United States, 291 U.S. 54, 63 (1934) (“Acts done by a public officer ‘which presuppose the existence of other acts to make them legally operative, are presumptive proofs of the latter.’”). We have repeatedly applied the presumption to sustain official acts by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. See, e.g., Sego v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 604, 611 (2000); Perlmutter v. Commissioner, 44 T.C. 382, 398 (1965), affd. 373 F.2d 45 (10th Cir. 1967); Lillis v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1983-142, affd. 740 F.2d 974 (9th Cir. 1984). In this case, petitioner relies solely upon his stipulated testimony that, approximately 2 weeks after he signed the 1991 extensions, he received his copies from the IRS, which “had been completed with the statutory period for collection extended to December 31, 2004Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011