Terrell v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Appellant appeals the Tax Court's order dismissing her petition for lack of jurisdiction. Because appellant filed her petition with the Tax Court within 90 days after the Commissioner of Internal Revenue sent her a notice of final determination, her petition was timely. Accordingly, the ruling of the Tax Court is reversed and remanded for a determination of the petition's merits. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 09-60822, 11-1-2010

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Published opinion

Pamela R. Terrell appeals the Tax Court’s order dismissing her petition for lack of jurisdiction. The Tax Court found it lacked jurisdiction because Terrell filed her petition more than ninety days after the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (“Commissioner”) sent her a Notice of Final Determination (“Notice”). Terrell argues that because the Commissioner did not send the Notice to her “last known address,” as required by I.R.C. § 6015(e), this Court should find her petition timely as it was filed within ninety days of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) mailing the Notice to her correct address.

The IRS was on notice that its address on file for Terrell was incorrect, because the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) had already returned three of the IRS’s prior mailings to Terrell as undeliverable. The IRS thus had a duty to exercise reasonable diligence to search for her correct address, but failed to do so before sending the Notice. The Notice sent on April 6, 2007 was, therefore, not sent to her “last known address,” and became null and void when it was subsequently returned as undeliverable. Terrell’s ninety days began to run only after the IRS re-sent the Notice to her correct address on May 14, 2007. Because Terrell filed her petition with the Tax Court within ninety days of the May 14th Notice, her petition was timely. Accordingly, we REVERSE the ruling of the Tax Court and REMAND for a determination of the petition’s merits.

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