T.C. Memo. 2013-123
UNITED STATES TAX COURT
JOSEPH M. BRENNAN, Petitioner v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Docket No. 1248-12L. Filed May 8, 2013.
P failed to file a Federal income tax return for tax year 2008. R
prepared a substitute for return (“SFR”) pursuant to I.R.C. sec. 6020
and issued to P a notice of deficiency that included the tax shown on
the SFR as well as additions to tax under I.R.C. secs. 6651(a)(1) and
(2) and 6654. P did not file a petition with this Court for
redetermination of the deficiency, and R assessed the tax and the
additions. R later issued to P a final notice of intent to levy to collect
the unpaid tax liability. In response P requested a collection due
process hearing before R’s Office of Appeals (“Appeals”) pursuant to
I.R.C. sec. 6330, claiming that the SFR failed to take into account
deductions to which P was entitled. After requesting a hearing, P
filed an untimely return for 2008 in which he claimed deductions and
showed a lesser amount of tax due than had been calculated in the
SFR. R accepted the return and abated a portion of the tax, so that the
remaining tax assessed equaled P’s self-reported liability. R also
abated portions of the additions to tax to reflect the reduced tax. At
the CDP hearing P raised only a concern that the total amount R
claimed was due was greater than the amount shown on the return P
had filed. The Appeals officer informed P that the difference between
the amount due and the amount shown on the return constituted
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[*2] additions to and interest on the tax shown on P’s return. P raised
no other issues at the hearing and Appeals issued a notice of
determination sustaining the levy notice. P filed with this Court a
timely petition for review of that determination, claiming for the first
time that he had reasonable cause with respect to his failure to file a
return and his failure to pay tax and that the additions to tax should be
abated. R moved for summary judgment on the ground that P cannot
challenge his underlying liability, because he received a prior notice
of deficiency, and that IRS Appeals did not abuse its discretion in
sustaining the levy notice.
Held: P is barred from asserting “reasonable cause” and
challenging his underlying liability for the additions to tax pursuant
to I.R.C. sec. 6330(c)(2)(B) because he received a notice of
deficiency determining those additions to tax.
Held, further, Appeals did not abuse its discretion in sustaining
the levy notice, and R’s motion for summary judgment will be
granted.
Edward James Leyden, for petitioner.
Han Huang, for respondent.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
GUSTAFSON, Judge: This is a collection due process (“CDP”) appeal
pursuant to section 6330(d),1 in which petitioner Joseph M. Brennan asks this
1
Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal
(continued...)
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[*3] Court to review the determination by the Office of Appeals (“Appeals”) of the
Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to proceed with a levy to collect his unpaid
Federal income tax for tax year 2008. The issue is whether Appeals abused its
discretion in making that determination. Respondent, the Commissioner of the
IRS, moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 121, and Mr. Brennan filed
an opposition. We hold that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact on
the issue of whether Appeals abused its discretion in making its determination.
We will therefore grant the Commissioner’s motion.
Background
The Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment establishes the
following facts, which Mr. Brennan does not dispute.
Mr. Brennan did not file a timely individual income tax return for 2008.
Instead, on April 13, 2010, the IRS prepared a substitute for return (“SFR”) for
him for 2008 pursuant to section 6020(b). On the basis of the SFR, the IRS issued
a notice of deficiency to Mr. Brennan on August 2, 2010, determining a deficiency
of $71,638 for 2008, as well as additions to tax under section 6651(a)(1) and (2)
1
(...continued)
Revenue Code (codified in 26 U.S.C. and referred to herein as “the Code”), and all
Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
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[*4] for failure to file a return and failure to pay tax shown and under section
6654(a) for failure to pay estimated tax.
Mr. Brennan did not file a petition with this Court challenging the notice of
deficiency. As a result, on January 3, 2011, the IRS assessed the tax and additions
determined in that notice and sent Mr. Brennan notice and demand for payment.
However, Mr. Brennan did not pay the balance due for 2008.
On April 4, 2011, the IRS sent Mr. Brennan a “Final Notice of Intent to
Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing” (“levy notice”) regarding collection
of his outstanding liability for 2008. On April 14, 2011, Mr. Brennan, through his
attorney, filed Form 12153, “Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent
Hearing”, on which he checked the boxes indicating he was requesting an
installment agreement or an offer-in-compromise and that “I Cannot Pay Balance”.
In the space for the “Reason” for his request, he wrote:
1/ The Substitute Tax Return filed for the taxpayers in relation to
2008 does not incorporate several of the deductions and/or other
items to which the Taxpayers would be entitled, resulting in a higher
level of income tax than the taxpayers actually owe. 2/ Furthermore,
the Taxpayers have not been afforded a hearing in connection with
the underlying tax liability.
Around May 20, 2011, Mr. Brennan and his wife (“the Brennans”) filed a
joint tax return for 2008 on which they reported total tax of $34,291. The IRS
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[*5] accepted and processed that joint return and on October 10, 2011, abated tax
of $37,347 (leaving total tax of $34,291--the same amount the Brennans reported
on their joint return) and portions of the additions to tax and interest previously
assessed, in order to reflect the reduced amount of the corresponding tax. The IRS
then sent Mr. Brennan notice of the adjustments made and of the balance
remaining due for 2008. Mr. Brennan did not pay the balance due, which remains
unpaid.
On October 19, 2011, IRS Settlement Officer Jeffrey Chambers sent Mr.
Brennan and his attorney a letter scheduling a telephone CDP hearing for
December 1, 2011. Mr. Chambers informed them that in order for the IRS to
consider collection alternatives, Mr. Brennan had to submit financial information
(on Forms 433-A, “Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-
Employed Individuals”, and/or 433-B, “Collection Information Statement for
Businesses”) and file outstanding tax returns for his 2009 and 2010 tax years
within 21 days (i.e., by November 9, 2011).
On November 1, 2011, Mr. Brennan’s attorney contacted Mr. Chambers to
request a face-to-face hearing rather than a telephone hearing. Mr. Chambers
advised Mr. Brennan’s attorney that before a face-to-face hearing, Mr. Brennan
first had to submit Form 433-A and file his delinquent 2009 and 2010 tax returns.
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[*6] On November 29, 2011, Mr. Brennan’s attorney again contacted Mr.
Chambers and stated that Mr. Brennan expected to file his delinquent tax returns
and Form 433-A within the next 10 to 14 days and was requesting a delay in his
hearing until that time. Both Mr. Chambers and his manager denied the request
for a postponement of the hearing. Mr. Brennan did not file either his delinquent
tax returns or Form 433-A within the time his attorney had requested.
Mr. Chambers conducted a telephone hearing with Mr. Brennan’s attorney
on December 1, 2011. At that hearing, Mr. Brennan’s attorney indicated that Mr.
Brennan disagreed with the amount the IRS claimed to be due in the notice sent to
him in October 2011, which indicated that he owed approximately $49,000,
because the Brennans’ 2008 joint return showed instead tax due of only about
$34,000. Mr. Chambers advised Mr. Brennan’s attorney that the IRS’s records
indicated that the tax remaining due after the abatement made in October 2011 was
$34,291 (as shown on the Brennans’ joint return) and that the balance of
approximately $15,000 was attributable to interest on and additions to that
amount. Mr. Brennan’s attorney indicated that Mr. Brennan intended to file his
delinquent returns and submit Form 433-A so that collection alternatives could be
considered but did not propose any particular collection alternative at the hearing.
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[*7] On December 14, 2011, the IRS issued to Mr. Brennan a notice of
determination sustaining the levy notice. In a summary explanation attached to the
notice of determination, the IRS stated: “You did not provide the financial
information requested and you did not file delinquent tax returns as requested.
Therefore, no collection alternatives could be considered in lieu of the proposed
levy.” On January 13, 2012, Mr. Brennan filed his petition in this case seeking
review of the IRS’s determination. His petition states a Virginia address. In his
petition Mr. Brennan asserts for the first time that he had “reasonable cause” for
failing to file a timely tax return for 2008. Mr. Brennan contends that “authority
exists for the IRS to waive interest and/or penalties[2] in relation to any assessed
deficiencies.”
Respondent filed his motion for summary judgment on January 2, 2013.
The motion asserts that Mr. Brennan is barred from raising here the issue of
2
Although the parties frequently refer to the additions to tax under sections
6651(a)(1) and (2) and 6654 as “penalties”, those sections define them as
“additions to tax”, and they appear in part I and not part II (“Accuracy-Related and
Fraud Penalties”) of subchapter A of chapter 68. However, the Code is not
entirely consistent and does occasionally refer to those additions to tax as
“penalties”. See, e.g., subsection titles to sec. 6651(b), (d), (f), (h). We interpret
the parties’ references to “penalties” to refer to the additions to tax determined in
the notice of deficiency issued to Mr. Brennan in August 2010 and included in the
levy notice issued to him in April 2011, and we do not correct the parties’ use of
the term “penalties” when quoting their filings.
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[*8] “reasonable cause” for two reasons. First, respondent asserts that Mr.
Brennan had a prior opportunity to challenge his liability for the additions and
raise any relevant defenses (such as “reasonable cause”) when he received the
notice of deficiency in August 2010. That notice included the additions Mr.
Brennan now disputes. Respondent contends that, in light of that prior
opportunity, the underlying liability was not properly at issue at the CDP hearing,
pursuant to section 6330(c)(2)(B). Second, according to respondent, Mr. Brennan
did not, in fact, challenge his liability for the additions during the agency-level
CDP hearing process. Respondent contends that Mr. Brennan is therefore barred
from raising that issue in this Court, pursuant to 26 C.F.R. section 301.6330-
1(f)(2), Q&A-F3, Proced. & Admin. Regs.
In his response to the motion for summary judgment, Mr. Brennan argues
that he did not have a prior opportunity to establish his “reasonable cause” defense
against the additions to tax that the IRS determined because those additions were
calculated no earlier than May 2011 (when the Brennans filed their 2008 joint
return)--i.e., after the time had expired within which they could petition the Court
with respect to the August 2010 notice of deficiency. Further, Mr. Brennan argues
that internal IRS procedure allows for consideration of his defense even “outside”
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[*9] the CDP process and that Mr. Chambers’ decision not to consider an
abatement of the additions to tax was improper.
Discussion
I. General legal principles
A. Summary judgment
Under Rule 121 (the Tax Court’s analog to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure), the Court may grant summary judgment where there is no
genuine dispute as to any material fact and a decision may be rendered as a matter
of law. The moving party (here, the Commissioner) bears the burden of showing
that no genuine dispute as to any material fact exists, and the Court will view any
factual material and inferences to be drawn from such material in the light most
favorable to the nonmoving party. See Sundstrand Corp. v. Commissioner, 98
T.C. 518, 520 (1992), aff’d, 17 F.3d 965 (7th Cir. 1994). The facts on which the
Commissioner relies in support of his motion are not disputed by Mr. Brennan
(with one exception noted below).
B. Collection review procedure
1. In general
If a taxpayer fails to pay any Federal income tax liability after notice and
demand, section 6331(a) authorizes the IRS to collect the tax by levy on the
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[*10] taxpayer’s property. However, Congress has added to chapter 64 of the
Code certain provisions (in subchapter C, part I, and in subchapter D, part I) as
“Due Process for Collections”, and those provisions must be complied with before
the IRS can proceed with a levy: The IRS must first issue a final notice of intent
to levy and notify the taxpayer of the right to an administrative hearing before
Appeals. Sec. 6330(a) and (b)(1). After receiving such a notice, the taxpayer may
request an administrative hearing before Appeals. Sec. 6330(a)(3)(B), (b)(1).
Administrative review is carried out by way of a hearing before Appeals pursuant
to section 6330(b) and (c); and, if the taxpayer is dissatisfied with the outcome
there, he can appeal that determination to the Tax Court under section 6330(d), as
Mr. Brennan has done.
2. Agency-level review in levy cases
At the CDP hearing, Appeals must make a determination whether the
proposed collection action may proceed. In the case of a notice of levy, the
procedures for the agency-level CDP hearing before Appeals are set forth in
section 6330(c). Appeals is required to take into consideration several things:
First, Appeals must verify that the requirements of any applicable law or
administrative procedure have been met by IRS personnel. See sec. 6330(c)(1),
(3)(A). The attachment to the notice of determination sets forth Mr. Chambers’
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[*11] compliance with these requirements, and Mr. Brennan makes no challenge
as to verification in his response to the motion for summary judgment, so no
verification issues under section 6330(c)(1) are in dispute.
Second, the taxpayer may “raise at the hearing any relevant issue relating to
the unpaid tax or the proposed levy, including” challenges to the appropriateness
of the collection action and offers of collection alternatives. Sec. 6330(c)(2)(A).
Mr. Brennan’s contentions do not pertain to collection alternatives (i.e., an
installment agreement, an offer-in-compromise, and currently not collectible
status, so no issues under section 6330(c)(2)(A) are in dispute.
Additionally, the taxpayer may contest the existence and amount of the
underlying tax liability, but only if he did not receive a notice of deficiency or
otherwise have a prior opportunity to dispute the tax liability. Sec. 6330(c)(2)(B).
As noted above, Mr. Brennan asserts in his petition, and in his response to
respondent’s motion for summary judgement, that he had “reasonable cause”
for failing to timely file his 2008 tax return. That argument constitutes a
challenge to the underlying liability for the failure-to-file addition to tax under
section 6651(a)(1).3 See Montgomery v. Commissioner, 122 T.C. 1, 7-8 (2004);
3
Mr. Brennan’s petition goes on to state that “authority exists for the IRS to
waive * * * penalties in relation to any assessed deficiencies.” (Emphasis added.)
(continued...)
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[*12] Everett Assocs., Inc. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-143, slip op. at 17.
We will discuss that argument below.
Finally, Appeals must determine “whether any proposed collection action
balances the need for the efficient collection of taxes with the legitimate concern
of the person that any collection action be no more intrusive than necessary.” Sec.
6330(c)(3)(C). Mr. Brennan did not raise intrusiveness in his request for a CDP
hearing, in his petition to the Court, or in his response to the Commissioner’s
motion for summary judgment, so no issues as to intrusiveness under section
6330(c)(3)(C) are at issue.
3. Tax Court review
When Appeals issues its determination, the taxpayer may “appeal such
determination to the Tax Court”, pursuant to section 6330(d)(1), as Mr. Brennan
has done. In such an appeal, where the underlying liability is properly at issue, we
review the determination of Appeals de novo. Goza v. Commissioner, 114 T.C.
176, 181-182 (2000). As to issues other than the underlying liability, we review
3
(...continued)
Though Mr. Brennan mentions only the failure-to-file addition to tax in asserting
his “reasonable cause” defense, we construe his use of the plural term “penalties”,
see note 2 above, to challenge his liability for all three of the additions to tax
included in the levy notice.
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[*13] the determination for abuse of discretion. That is, we decide whether the
determination was arbitrary, capricious, or without sound basis in fact or law.
See Murphy v. Commissioner, 125 T.C. 301, 320 (2005), aff’d, 469 F.3d 27 (1st
Cir. 2006). As discussed below, we find that Mr. Brennan’s underlying liability
for the additions to tax is not properly at issue, and therefore we review the IRS’s
decision to sustain the levy notice to determine whether it involved an abuse of
discretion.
II. Appeals’ determination to sustain the levy
Mr. Brennan claims that he was not given an opportunity to establish his
“reasonable cause” defense because the IRS “imposed” the additions to tax and
penalties in October 2011--after the expiration of the time in which to file a
petition with the Court in response to the notice of deficiency he received in
August 2010. However, Mr. Brennan’s interpretation of the facts is incorrect.
The IRS did not “impose” any penalties in October 2011. In August 2010 it
determined the additions to tax under sections 6651(a)(1) and (2) and 6654 in
the notice of deficiency. It was at that time that Mr. Brennan had the opportunity
to raise his “reasonable cause” defense by filing a petition with the Court.
While the IRS did later recompute the amounts of some of the additions to tax
after it processed the Brennans’ late-filed 2008 joint return in October 2011, it did
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[*14] not assert a new liability distinct from the one determined in the notice of
deficiency.
Under section 6330(c)(2)(B), Mr. Brennan may raise a challenge to the
underlying liability as part of the CDP hearing only if he “did not receive any
statutory notice of deficiency for such tax liability or did not otherwise have an
opportunity to dispute such tax liability.” Mr. Brennan does not dispute that he
received a notice of deficiency with respect to his 2008 liability, nor that the notice
of deficiency included the additions to tax under sections 6651(a)(1) and (2) and
6654. Nor does he dispute that he failed to file a petition with this Court within
the time provided by section 6213(a). As a result, section 6330(c)(2)(B) barred
him from challenging his liability for those additions at his CDP hearing; and we
may not consider that challenge here. See Sego v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 604,
611 (2000); see also Bray v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-113 (refusing to
consider a challenge to the underlying additions to tax where the taxpayer failed to
file a return, the IRS had issued a notice of deficiency based on an SFR, the
taxpayer failed to file a Tax Court petition, and the IRS later abated a portion of
the additions to tax after processing a late-filed return).
Mr. Brennan stresses that he “only learned the amounts of the penalties”
after his opportunity to challenge the notice of deficiency. If the IRS introduces
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[*15] an error into the computation of an addition to tax or a penalty in an
assessment that it makes after the issuance of a notice of deficiency, then by
definition a taxpayer could not have challenged that error in a deficiency case; and
we assume that, since such a taxpayer therefore lacked a prior opportunity,
section 6330(c)(2)(B) would permit him to challenge that computational error in a
subsequent CDP hearing. However, no such computational error is alleged here.
Rather, Mr. Brennan makes it clear that the contention he wishes to raise is
“reasonable cause”--a challenge that he certainly had the opportunity to raise (but
did not raise) in a deficiency case filed after the issuance of the notice of
deficiency.
Moreover, even if Mr. Brennan had not had the prior opportunity to raise his
“reasonable cause” defense by filing a deficiency case with the Court, he still
would not be able to raise that issue in this CDP case. Mr. Brennan’s attorney did
not raise the issue of abating the additions to tax or Mr. Brennan’s “reasonable
cause” defense before or during the CDP hearing, and he offers no evidence that
the issue was presented to Mr. Chambers for consideration. As a result, we would
lack jurisdiction to consider the issue here. See Giamelli v. Commissioner, 129
T.C. 107, 112-113 (2007).
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[*16] Mr. Brennan further contends that the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM)
provides an IRS Appeals officer (such as Mr. Chambers) with the discretion to
consider penalty abatement and “reasonable cause” defenses “outside” the CDP
hearing context, see IRM pt. 8.22.2.2.12.3(2) (Dec. 14, 2010), and that
Mr. Chambers’s refusal to exercise that discretion was error. IRM pt.
8.22.2.2.12.3(2) does state that “The hearing officer may consider a challenge to a
penalty liability, outside of CDP, under Appeals general authority, if the taxpayer
failed to pursue the issue when the taxpayer received a prior opportunity”.
(Emphasis added.) However, as Mr. Brennan acknowledges, what that provision
of the IRM authorizes is consideration outside the CDP context, whereas in this
appeal under section 6330(d) we have jurisdiction to review only the exercises of
discretion that Appeals made under section 6330 within the CDP context. If
Appeals abused its discretion other than in the CDP hearing, we do not have
jurisdiction here to review or remedy that abuse. In addition, as is noted above,
there is nothing to indicate that Mr. Brennan’s attorney raised the issue of abating
the additions to tax or Mr. Brennan’s “reasonable cause” defense at any time
during the CDP process. The supposed failure of Mr. Chambers to review an issue
that was not presented to him is not error.
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[*17] As Mr. Brennan’s only contentions are not properly before us or lack merit,
we find no error or abuse of discretion in the IRS’s sustaining the notice of levy.
We will therefore grant the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment.
An appropriate order and decision
will be entered.