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invalid or alter the 90-day filing period pursuant to section
6015(e)(1)(A).
Mr. Midgley contends that an IRS employee informed him that
he had until March 17, 2005, to petition the Tax Court.
Erroneous legal advice by an IRS employee, however, does not
generally bind the Commissioner and does not affect, by estoppel
or otherwise, the jurisdictional requirement for a timely filed
petition. See Elgart v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-379 (and
cases cited therein).
In any event, it was petitioner’s and Mr. Midgley’s
responsibility to file the petition on time. When petitioner
faxed him the partial copy of the Final Notice, Mr. Midgley had
79 days left to file a petition in the Tax Court. Mr. Midgley
holds himself out as an experienced attorney who has “filed many
applications for innocent spouse relief in the past”. We do not
find convincing or satisfactory Mr. Midgley’s unquestioning
reliance on informal advice provided by an IRS employee as to the
critical date for filing the Tax Court petition. Nor is
petitioner availed by Mr. Midgley’s proffered explanation that he
was unable to file the petition on time because of his
“workload”.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011