Kuykendall v. Comm'r

129 T.C. No. 9, 129 T.C. 77, 2007 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 28
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 25, 2007
DocketNo. 16232-06L
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 129 T.C. No. 9 (Kuykendall v. Comm'r) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kuykendall v. Comm'r, 129 T.C. No. 9, 129 T.C. 77, 2007 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 28 (tax 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

Haines, Judge:

This case is before the Court on respondent’s motion for summary judgment filed pursuant to Rule 121.1 Respondent’s motion argues that petitioners were statutorily barred from challenging the existence or amount of the underlying tax liability in their section 6330 hearing because they had received a notice of deficiency, and therefore, they are barred from challenging the liability before this Court.

Background

Petitioners, Alan Lee and Debi Marie Kuykendall (husband and wife), resided in Middletown, California, at the time the petition was filed.

Ms. Kuykendall was primarily employed as an accountant and bookkeeper. She also worked part time as a shift lead supervisor at a restaurant. On February 28, 2002, while working at the restaurant, Ms. Kuykendall was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint. She suffered from severe physical and psychological difficulties as a result of the assault. She was subsequently diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Mr. Kuykendall worked as a property manager until he began experiencing medical problems in 2002. He was diagnosed with postpolio syndrome, a debilitating set of physiological changes in the nervous system, which results in extreme weakness, fatigue, and pain, among other symptoms. Mr. Kuykendall became unable to work and suffered from very poor short-term memory.

In a letter dated April 29, 2002, respondent notified petitioners that their 1999 Federal income tax return had been selected for review. On May 23, 2002, Ms. Kuykendall requested that respondent delay the examination because of her medical difficulties. Respondent’s examiner denied the request. On July 10, 2002, respondent sent petitioners an audit report showing the changes made to petitioners’ 1999 return. Petitioners were allowed until September 3, 2002, to submit documents pertaining to their 1999 return. Petitioners did not respond.

On May 1, 2003, respondent issued a notice of deficiency to petitioners’ last known address determining a tax deficiency of $4,591 for 1999. In the notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed petitioners’ unreimbursed employee business expenses claimed on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, of $18,169, and certain Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business, expenses, totaling $8,063.

On July 18, 2003, Ms. Kuykendall called respondent’s examiner regarding a letter she had received related to petitioners’ 2000 tax year. During the conversation, Ms. Kuykendall was informed that a notice of deficiency for 1999 had been mailed to them. Ms. Kuykendall informed respondent that petitioners had moved and that they did not receive the notice of deficiency. At Ms. Kuykendall’s request, the examiner faxed a copy of the notice of deficiency to petitioners that day. With respect to the notice of deficiency, petitioners did not file a petition with this Court.

On February 14, 2004, respondent sent petitioners a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing for 1999. On March 7, 2004, petitioners submitted a Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing. In their request for relief, petitioners disputed the underlying tax liability by asserting that the disallowed business expenses were valid. They also disputed the examiner’s decision not to postpone the examination. On May 6, 2004, respondent’s Appeals Office sent a letter to petitioners, offering them a hearing. On May 19, 2004, Ms. Kuykendall sent a letter to respondent’s Appeals Office, accompanied by several documents relating to the disallowed business deductions.

On August 17, 2004, Appeals Officer Terrence Riddle conducted a face-to-face hearing with Ms. Kuykendall. At the hearing, petitioners sought to challenge the underlying tax liability by providing documentation to substantiate the disallowed deductions. Officer Riddle determined that petitioners could not properly challenge the underlying tax liability at the hearing because they previously had had the opportunity to petition this Court for review of the deficiency. As to the examiner’s decision not to postpone the audit, Officer Riddle determined that petitioners were allowed a reasonable amount of time in which to respond to the audit report.

On July 20, 2006, respondent issued a notice of determination sustaining the proposed collection action for 1999. Petitioners timely filed a petition with this Court. In the petition, they sought to challenge the underlying tax liability by asserting that the disallowed deductions were valid. Petitioners also challenged respondent’s failure to postpone the examination of their 1999 return.

On June 19, 2007, respondent filed a motion for summary judgment on all issues in the case. On July 27, 2007, petitioners filed their response.

Discussion

Summary judgment is intended to expedite litigation and avoid unnecessary and expensive trials. Fla. Peach Corp. v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 678, 681 (1988). The Court may grant summary judgment when there is no genuine issue of material fact and a decision may be rendered as a matter of law. Rule 121(b); Sundstrand Corp. v. Commissioner, 98 T.C. 518, 520 (1992), affd. 17 F.3d 965 (7th Cir. 1994); Zaentz v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 753, 754 (1988). The moving party bears the burden of proving that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Dahlstrom v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 812, 821 (1985); Naftel v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 527, 529 (1985). The Court will view any factual material and inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Dahlstrom v. Commissioner, supra at 821; Naftel v. Commissioner, supra at 529.

Before the Commissioner may levy on any property or property right, the taxpayer must be provided written notice of the right to request a hearing during the 30-day period before the first levy. Sec. 6330(a). If the taxpayer requests a hearing, an Appeals officer of the Commissioner must hold the hearing. Sec. 6330(b)(1). At the hearing, the taxpayer may raise any relevant issue relating to the unpaid tax or the proposed levy, including appropriate spousal defenses, challenges to the appropriateness of collection actions, and offers of collection alternatives. Sec. 6330(c)(2)(A).

Section 6330(c)(2)(B) limits the taxpayer’s ability to challenge the underlying tax liability during the hearing. Specifically, the taxpayer may “raise at the hearing challenges to the existence or amount of the underlying tax liability for any tax period if the person did not receive any statutory notice of deficiency for such tax liability or did not otherwise have an opportunity to dispute such tax liability.” Id.

“Receipt of a statutory notice of deficiency for this purpose means receipt in time to petition the Tax Court for a redeter-mination of the deficiency asserted in the notice of deficiency.” Sec. 301.6330-l(e)(3), Q&A-E2, Proced. & Admin. Regs. Therefore, section 6330(c)(2)(B) contemplates actual receipt by the taxpayer.2 Tatum v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-115.

We have not previously addressed the issue of how much time is required under section 301.6330-l(e)(3), Q&A-E2, Proced. & Admin.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

BM Construction
U.S. Tax Court, 2021
Jevon Kearse v. Commissioner
2019 T.C. Memo. 53 (U.S. Tax Court, 2019)
DAF Charters, LLC v. Commissioner
152 T.C. No. 14 (U.S. Tax Court, 2019)
Allen R. Davison, III v. Commissioner
2019 T.C. Memo. 26 (U.S. Tax Court, 2019)
Beam v. Comm'r
2017 T.C. Memo. 200 (U.S. Tax Court, 2017)
Yasgur v. Comm'r
2016 T.C. Memo. 77 (U.S. Tax Court, 2016)
Hampton Software Dev., LLC v. Comm'r
2016 T.C. Memo. 38 (U.S. Tax Court, 2016)
Smith v. Comm'r
2015 T.C. Memo. 60 (U.S. Tax Court, 2015)
Carol Diane Gray v. Commissioner
140 T.C. No. 9 (U.S. Tax Court, 2013)
Gray v. Commissioner
140 T.C. No. 9 (U.S. Tax Court, 2013)
Wilson v. Comm'r
2013 T.C. Summary Opinion 18 (U.S. Tax Court, 2013)
Joel Christopher Wilson v. Commissioner
2013 T.C. Summary Opinion 18 (U.S. Tax Court, 2013)
Campbell v. Comm'r
2013 T.C. Memo. 57 (U.S. Tax Court, 2013)
Jag Brokerage, Inc. v. Comm'r
2012 T.C. Memo. 315 (U.S. Tax Court, 2012)
Marcinek v. Comm'r
2011 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 53 (U.S. Tax Court, 2011)
Johnson v. Comm'r
2010 T.C. Summary Opinion 69 (U.S. Tax Court, 2010)
Barnes v. Comm'r
2010 T.C. Memo. 30 (U.S. Tax Court, 2010)
Lee D. v. Comm'r
2009 T.C. Memo. 307 (U.S. Tax Court, 2009)
Powers v. Comm'r
2009 T.C. Memo. 229 (U.S. Tax Court, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 T.C. No. 9, 129 T.C. 77, 2007 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kuykendall-v-commr-tax-2007.