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II. Deficiency and Assessment Procedures
Petitioners contend that respondent may not proceed with
collection of their tax liabilities because respondent failed to
issue a deficiency notice before assessing their taxes.
A. A Deficiency Notice Is Generally Required Before
the Commissioner May Assess a Deficiency
An assessment is an administrative recording of a taxpayer’s
liability and sets the collection process in motion.
Philadelphia & Reading Corp. v. United States, 944 F.2d 1063,
1064 n.1 (3d Cir. 1991). An assessment is made by recording the
liability of the taxpayer in the office of the Secretary. Sec.
6203. The purpose of requiring the assessment to be so recorded
is to insure both that the Secretary is maintaining proper
records and that taxpayers receive a summary of records of their
tax liability. Gentry v. United States, 962 F.2d 555, 556 (6th
Cir. 1992).
The Secretary generally may not assess a deficiency in tax
unless the Secretary has first mailed a deficiency notice to the
taxpayer and allowed the taxpayer to petition the Tax Court for a
redetermination.2 Sec. 6213(a). There are certain exceptions to
the requirement that a deficiency notice must be issued, however.
For example, a deficiency notice is generally not required where
2A deficiency notice is not required to assess taxes where
there is no deficiency. For example, the Secretary may assess
without a deficiency notice the amount of tax shown due on a
return. Sec. 6201(a)(1).
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Last modified: May 25, 2011