Law360 - IRS Asks Justices to Scrap Couple's Late-Filed Tax Court Suit
Law360
Oliver Roberts appeared as attorney of record for the Culps in this Law360 article: "IRS Asks Justices to Scrap Couple's Late-Filed Tax Court Suit."
Oliver represented the Culps in the Third Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, and made the oral argument in the Third Circuit. He won the case in July 2023. The DOJ is now petitioning for cert to have the Supreme Court hear the case and overturn the Third Circuit decision.
On July 19, 2023, the Third Circuit held in Culp v. Commissioner that the filing deadline in 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a) is nonjurisdictional and can be extended under certain circumstances. Section 6213(a) gives most taxpayers 90 days from the date the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) mails a notice of deficiency in payment of taxes owed to file a redetermination petition with the United States Tax Court. After holding that the 90-day deadline is nonjurisdictional, the Third Circuit found that equitable tolling—which pauses the running of a statute of limitations in certain circumstances—can apply to the deadline.
The Culp decision creates a split among federal courts over whether the § 6213(a) deadline is jurisdictional. The Third Circuit is the first federal court of appeals to hold that it is not after a Supreme Court decision last year provided guidance on determining whether tax filing requirements are jurisdictional.
Here’s a CRS report on it as well: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB11038
