Firnhaber v. Nelson

209 F. Supp. 777, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5888, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5028
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedOctober 30, 1962
DocketNo. 61-C-169
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 209 F. Supp. 777 (Firnhaber v. Nelson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Firnhaber v. Nelson, 209 F. Supp. 777, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5888, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5028 (E.D. Wis. 1962).

Opinion

GRUBB, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Miles S. Firnhaber, seeks to permanently enjoin defendants, Emil J. Nelson, District Director of the Internal Revenue Service, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the United States of America, from attempting the collection of federal income tax deficiencies assessed for plaintiff’s taxable year ending December 31, 1956. Jurisdiction is based on § 1340 of Title 28 U.S.C.A. and § 7421 of Title 26 U.S.C.A.

Plaintiff contends that collection of the deficiency assessed for the year 1956 is barred because defendants failed to mail timely notice thereof to plaintiff at his last known address as required by § 6212(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Title 26 U.S.C.A.

Notice of deficiency was sent to plaintiff by certified mail on December 19, 1960, addressed as follows:

“Mr. Miles S. Firnhaber
“Glen Cove
“Pewaukee, Wisconsin.”

The rural mail carrier attempted delivery on December 20, 1960, one day after date of mailing of the notice. A person at plaintiff’s residence refused to sign for the certified mail. The carrier marked the envelope containing the notice “Refused” and “12-20-60” and left a notice of attempted delivery at plaintiff’s residence on that date. Another official at the Pewaukee post office was subsequently informed that plaintiff was out [778]*778of town and marked the envelope “Hold until called fo (sic) out of Town.” Two further notices of the certified mail were left at plaintiff’s mail box, the final one being given on January 6, 1961. The letter was never picked up and was returned to the sender on January 10,1961.

The time for assessment of the deficiency in question, which had been extended by waiver, expired on December 31, 1960. No further statutory notice in respect to the deficiency in question was sent to plaintiff prior to December 31, 1960.

Plaintiff has resided at the same Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, home since prior to 1955. Glen Cove is a subdivision in a rural area which has had a large influx of population in recent years. Mail delivery is by rural route carrier, operating out of the Pewaukee, Wisconsin, post office, to a mail box located along the road adjacent to plaintiff’s property. Plaintiff’s address as indicated on the income tax return for 1956 is “Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin.” Two Form 872 waivers relating to plaintiff’s taxable year 1956, executed by Mr. Firnhaber on April 6, 1960 and August 25, 1960, respectively, again show plaintiff's address as “Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin.”

On December 15,1960, in a letter transmitting payment of the final quarter of estimated tax due for the year 1960, plaintiff wrote to the Internal Revenue Service at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as follows:

“I note on the envelope which contained this last quarter’s tax invoice that it was misdirected because of incomplete address. In the future, if you have any correspondence that you wish addressed to Helen L. Firnhaber or Miles Firnhaber at our residence, please use Route # 3, Pewaukee, Wisconsin. There has been a large influx of population lately and without the rural route the mail in the future will not be delivered.”

The invoice billing stub relating to the quarterly payment transmitted by the letter of December 15, 1960, presumably returned with the payment, shows plaintiff’s address as Route 3, Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, and indicates a due date of January 15, 1961. The envelope to which plaintiff referred in his letter .and the original of said letter were not available on the trial.

The chief of the Collection Division of the Milwaukee office of the Internal Revenue Service testified that the check transmitted with the letter of December 15; 1960, was deposited on December 21, 1960. He further testified that billings for quarterly installments are sent in window envelopes and that the address as shown on the billing stub would have appeared in the window.

An envelope containing a Form 17-A Statement of Tax Due dated April 21, 1961, addressed to Miles S. Firnhaber, Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, bears the following stamp imprint:

“Delayed because of incomplete address. Advise correspondents and publishers to address your mail to street and number.”

The court finds that under the circumstances of this case, the statutory deficiency notice of December 19, 1960, was sent to plaintiff’s last known address as required by § 6212 of Title 26 U.S.C.A., Notice of deficiency.

There was uncontradicted evidence that the post office attempted delivery of the notice one day after mailing thereof during the middle of the Christmas rush when mail volume was heavy, and further took all customary steps of attempted notification and delivery. There was no evidence explaining plaintiff’s refusal to accept delivery of the notice or to indicate that failure of delivery was due to or related to an incompletely addressed notice.

It was not shown when the designation of Route # 3 was assigned as a proper address description for purposes of mail delivery to the Glen Cove area and would have become a necessary component of [779]*779plaintiff’s address.1 Plaintiff did not use Route # 3 as part of his stated address on his 1956 income tax return. In 1960, the Collection Division of the Internal Revenue Service used this designation in addressing the billings for plaintiff’s 1960 estimated tax payments. Also in 1960, the Review Division, which prepared the deficiency notice relating to the year 1956, did not use this designation. In 1961, the Internal Revenue Service again failed to use the Route # 3 designation in mailing the Form 17-A Statement of Tax Due dated April 21, 1961, which related to the 1956 income tax deficiency.

Further, in April and August of 1960, plaintiff did not call attention to the omission of the Route # 3 designation in respect to his address as shown on the waiver forms executed by him relating to the 1956 deficiency determination.

The post office stamp, as shown on the Form 17-A Statement of Tax Due envelope sent to plaintiff in April 1961, indicates that delay might result because of incomplete address where the route number is omitted — not that the mail becomes undeliverable as plaintiff informed the Internal Revenue Service by his letter of December 15, 1960.

The deficiency assessment notice relating to the year 1956 was prepared prior to December 14, 1960, processed further, and mailed on December 19,1960. Plaintiff has not shown that the files of the divisions of the Internal Revenue Service responsible for preparing and giving notice of the deficiency reflected any information that “Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin,” was not in fact plaintiff’s proper and sufficient address at the time of giving notice. This was the address as shown on the return for the year 1956, as well as that indicated on the waivers in respect to the deficiency assessment executed as late as August 1960.

The question is then presented whether or not the use of the Route # 3 designation by the Collection Division of the-Internal Revenue Service, at least for the year 1960, and plaintiff’s letter of December 15, 1960, advising the Service of the' necessity of using the additional description, should have apprised the Review Division that Glen Cove, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, was not plaintiff’s last known address.

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Related

Kennedy v. United States
403 F. Supp. 619 (W.D. Michigan, 1975)
Marvin v. Commissioner
40 T.C. 982 (U.S. Tax Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
209 F. Supp. 777, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5888, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/firnhaber-v-nelson-wied-1962.