Richard M. Downing - Page 21




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          conclude and hold that respondent failed to send the final notice           
          of intent to levy to petitioner’s last known address and that the           
          notice was therefore invalid.  See Buffano v. Commissioner,                 
          supra.                                                                      
               3.  Whether To Impute to Petitioner Knowledge of the Notice            
               of Intent To Levy                                                      
               On reply brief, respondent suggests that it is ultimately              
          irrelevant whether the final notice of intent to levy was mailed            
          to petitioner’s last known address because “it was, in fact,                
          actually received by petitioner’s attorney-in-fact in sufficient            
          time to meet the deadline for filing a timely appeal with the               
          Appeals office.”  In support of this contention, respondent cites           
          St. Joseph Lease Capital Corp. v. Commissioner, 235 F.3d 886 (4th           
          Cir. 2000), affg. T.C. Memo. 1996-256, and Estate of Citrino v.             
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1987-565.  In each of those cases, a               
          statutory notice of deficiency was held valid even though not               
          mailed to the taxpayer’s last known address.  In each of those              
          cases, however, the notice was obtained by the taxpayer or the              
          attorney, who then filed a timely petition.  By contrast, neither           
          petitioner nor his accountant ever responded to the final notice            
          of intent to levy.                                                          
               Petitioner testified credibly that he received no copy of              
          the final notice in 2003 and that if he had received it, he would           
          have requested a hearing.  Although the evidence suggests that              
          petitioner’s Idaho accountants received the final notice of                 






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