Tax Notes Today Quotes Mark Allison: Tax Court Retains Jurisdiction Over Worker Classification Case

Tax Notes Today spoke with Mark D. Allison concerning the U.S. Tax Court maintaining its jurisdiction over a worker classification case. The IRS argued that the court lacked jurisdiction because a notice of determination of worker classification was not issued. For the complete article, please visit Tax Notes Today's website (subscription required).
 
Excerpt taken from the article "Tax Court Retains Jurisdiction Over Worker Classification Case" by Matthew R. Madara for Tax Notes Today.
 
Mark D. Allison of Caplin & Drysdale called the decision "fascinating" and said it should serve as a wake-up call to practitioners as they think about Tax Court jurisdiction. Practitioners generally view the court's jurisdiction as deriving from statutory-based deadlines, and the notion that jurisdiction can be created by "any mailing that purports to create a controversy in a particular context" adds a new wrinkle to that thinking, he said.
 
According to Allison, the decision has another lesson for the IRS: The Service will have to pay closer attention to the title and nature of the notices it issues and the method by which it issues them. The IRS clearly thought the notice would trigger jurisdiction only if it was sent certified or registered mail as required under section 7436(b). Now, though, the agency must appreciate that "they can by their own actions inadvertently give an opportunity for jurisdiction where they may not have understood or intended to do so," he said.