The outgoing year has been awash in examples of the Supremes’ laudable efforts to “’to bring some discipline’ to use of the jurisdictional label” in Tax Court petitioning. The effects, however, have been a wee bit short of the mark, as The Law of Unintended Consequences has scrambled the multiplex ways that petitions wend their several ways from aggrieved taxpayers to The Glasshouse in the City of the Taxed Unrepresented. And the race is definitely not to the swift.

Here’s Judge Goeke deciding, in an off-the-bencher, that three (count ’em, three) days late don’t matter in a deficiency case, where petitioner used USPS first class mail with no proof of mailing and told a good story at the motion-to-toss hearing.

Christian Harvey Chaussee, Docket No. 14763-22, filed 12/29/23, says he was in the US Post Office on Day 90, but the postage label he bought from the self-serve kiosk therein bore the wrong address. So he bought plain stamps and mailed his petition that day.

Brilliantly, instead of taking the defective label to the window and seeking a refund, he kept it. So by foregoing a 98 cent refund, Christian Harvey saves his petition.

“This position by the petitioner was corroborated by documents which he submitted, including evidence to show that he was in the Post Office on that date and that he did, in fact, purchase postage of 98 cents, which is consistent with his position that he originally purchased postage and then realized he had addressed the package incorrectly, and then subsequently mailed the correct package.” Transcript, at p. 5.

Even better, while the package reached The Glasshouse 114 (count ’em, 114) days after SNOD was mailed, it’s still OK.

“Respondent has stated in respondent’s motion that based upon their analysis and discussion with U.S. Post Office personnel, as well as other evidence, the estimated time of the package in Washington, DC would have been between June 6th and June 13th, 2022. The fact that this package was three days late and does not overcome the strong evidence that petitioner did, in fact, place it in the mail on May 21st, 2022. We deemed this evidence to be such that we should deem the petition as filed timely and consistent with section 7502.” Transcript, at pp. 5-6.

Judge Goeke stresses that Section 7502 was enacted to smooth out the vagaries of the postal service’s service. Mailed is filed.

So what price Antawn Jamal Sanders, who was eleven (count ’em, eleven) seconds late with his e-filed petition? Antawn got tossed. See my blogpost “In The Midnight Hour,” 6/20/23 for Antawn’s story. But Christian Harvey is in.

Discipline, anyone?