Every other route to a federal judge in a tax dispute requires paying the tax, filing a claim for refund, waiting for it to be denied, and then suing. The Tax Court is the exception, and that is what makes the Notice of Deficiency such an important document: it is the ticket that opens this door, and the door closes after ninety days.
This firm is admitted to practice before the court, which means the strategy set on day one can be the strategy carried through to trial, by the same attorney throughout.
What filing accomplishes
- Assessment and collection of the disputed amount are suspended while the case is pending — no levy, no enforced collection on that liability
- The case is evaluated by people whose job includes deciding whether the government would actually win at trial
- Most petitioned cases settle, frequently on terms that were not available before filing
- You retain the ability to try the case if it does not settle
Two kinds of case
Regular case
The standard procedure, with formal rules of evidence and the right to appeal an adverse decision to the court of appeals. Used where the amounts or the issues warrant it.
Small tax case
Available where the amount in dispute is $50,000 or less for each year at issue. Procedure is informal, evidence rules are relaxed, and resolution is usually faster. The trade-off is that the decision cannot be appealed.
How a case actually proceeds
A petition is filed, the government answers, and the case is typically assigned for settlement discussion — often back to Appeals, or to Chief Counsel. Informal discovery follows, and the parties are expected to stipulate to facts that are not genuinely in dispute. That stipulation process does a great deal of the work in a tax case.
If the matter does not settle, it is calendared for trial in a designated city. The court travels, so a trial is usually held within reach of the taxpayer rather than in Washington. There is no jury. After trial the parties file briefs, and the judge issues an opinion, sometimes many months later.
Filing is not the same as fighting. A petition preserves your position and stops collection. It does not commit you to a trial, and the majority of cases resolve long before one.
The deadline, again
Ninety days from the date on the Notice of Deficiency, or 150 days if it is addressed to a person outside the United States. In most circuits, courts treat it as jurisdictional and cannot extend it — no conversation with anyone at the IRS pauses it either. The notice is explained in full here.
What to do now
Find the date on the notice and count ninety days forward. If that date is close, call rather than email. If it has passed, there are other routes, but they are slower and generally more expensive — and worth assessing quickly.
Ninety days is not long
Send the notice number and the date printed on it to confirm the deadline and whether it remains open. No charge for that conversation.
If your notice has a date on it, start now.
Send a general description of your situation. Please do not include Social Security numbers, account numbers, or documents in a first message.