Judge Alina I. (“AIM”) Marshall has an abbreviated abbreviation for the Section 6213(a) Statutory Notice of Deficiency, namely, SND, with which I will henceforth use to replace my previous SNOD, thereby saving me a keystroke. Thanks, Judge; at my age, every little bit helps.

But this avails not the trusty attorney and trusty CPA for Scott Hampton Cumbee and Sharalene R. Cumbee, Docket No. 17312-22L, filed 10/25/24. S&S never petitioned the SND, so their professionals’ nonreceipt of the SND and failure to get the exam file (though trusty attorney got the CDP admin file from Appeals) avails them not.

Trusty attorney does get a Taishoff “Good Try, Forlorn Hope Class” for the argy-bargy about the exam file. When your client can’t swear they didn’t get the SND and their last known address hasn’t changed for a decade, you’ve got to try anything not actually frivolous. And IRS issued a dubious 30-day letter, later corrected.

The Taxpayer First Act gets an airing here, but as with such enactments, IRS complies at the barest minimum “for the benefit of customer service.” Order, at p. 5.

Blowing the 90-day cutoff on a SND is always fatal outside 3 Cir. How long that gap will last is anybody’s guess.