Roy W. Dewelles v. United States of America

This is an appeal from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (now the Central District), dismissing appellant taxpayer’s suit to enjoin a deficiency assessment of federal income taxes for the years 1957 and 1958.

Jurisdiction was conferred on the district court by 28 U.S.C. § 1340 and 26 U.S.C. §§ 6213 and 7421(a). Jurisdiction is conferred on this court by 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

The question presented by this appeal is a simple one: did the Government meet the requirements of Internal Revenue Code of 1954, § 6212, in sending a notice of deficiency, commonly called a 90-day letter, to taxpayer. Taxpayer asserts that the notice was not sent to his last known address, as the section requires, and, in the alternative, that even if it were, it was not received in time for him to avail himself of his procedural rights. He argues, therefore, that the Government may not proceed to collect the deficiency. However, we agree with the district court that the Government acted in compliance with the section and we therefore affirm.

Section 6212 provides in part:

Once the notice has been properly sent, Internal Revenue Code, §…