Hyler
Hyler v. Commissioner
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Taxpayer Fletcher Hyler appeals the tax court’s finding that the IRS properly mailed notices of deficiency for 1995 and 1997 to his “last known address,” thereby allowing the IRS to enforce collection of the deficiencies. The tax court found that the address on his 1997 return, his last return before the notice mailings, was his “last known address.” We review the tax court’s findings for clear error. See Williams v. Comm’r, 935 F.2d 1066, 1068 (9th Cir.1991).
The IRS Commissioner “is entitled to treat the address appearing on a taxpayer’s return as the last known in the absence of clear and concise notification from the taxpayer directing the Commissioner to use a different address.” King v. Comm’r, 857 F.2d 676, 679 (9th Cir.1988) (quoting Alta Sierra Vista, Inc. v. Comm’r, 62 T.C. 367, 374 , 1974 WL 2662 (1974)).
Hyler argues that the address on his 1997 return was not his “last known address” because his representative, Connie Stone, notified the IRS of a different address in September 1998 after he filed the 1997 return in August. The tax court, however, never found that Stone’s notification came in September; rather, the tax court found that her notification…