Not in NJ, PA, DE and Virgin Islands.
After the IRS examines a tax return and determines that additional tax is due, they may issue a statutory notice of deficiency (a “Stat Notice”) to a taxpayer. A Stat Notice is commonly referred to as a taxpayer’s “ticket to Tax Court” because it allows the taxpayer to petition the U.S. Tax Court to review the deficiency before paying the proposed tax. Alternatively, a taxpayer can pay the proposed tax, file a refund claim with the IRS, and challenge the assessment in federal court (either federal district court, or the U.S. Court of Federal Claims).
The Internal Revenue Code provides taxpayers 90 days (150 days for taxpayers residing
outside the U.S.) from mailing date of a State Notice to file a U.S. Tax Court Petition seeking a review of the deficiency determination. Historically, this 90-day filing deadline was viewed as a jurisdictional requirement necessary to establish the authority of the U.S. Tax Court to review a deficiency asserted by the IRS in a Stat notice. However, a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has challenged this historic view.
In Culp v. Commissioner, the Third Circuit found that the filing deadline was not a jurisdictional requirement needed to bestow authority to the U.S. Tax Court. To arrive at this conclusion, the Third Circuit relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Boechler v. Commissioner. In Boechler, the Supreme Court held that a 30-day filing deadline for filing a U.S. Tax Court petition to challenge a Notice of Determination issued by the IRS was not a jurisdictional requirement. The Supreme Court reasoned that filing deadlines are jurisdictional if, and only if, Congress clearly says they are.
The U.S. Tax Court adheres to the Golsen Rule, which calls for the Tax Court to apply
the law of the circuit where a particular taxpayer’s appeal would be heard. In the Third Circuit, the decision in Culp still holds, as the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in the case. Accordingly, the filing deadline is non-jurisdictional and may be equitably tolled for taxpayers in Third Circuit. While other circuit courts have found the filing deadline to be a jurisdictional requirement, the Third Circuit is the only circuit court to review the matter since the issuance of the Boechler decision. As such, it is important for taxpayers to monitor this issue as the law develops in other jurisdictions.
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