STJ Diana L. (“Sidewalks of New York”) Leyden cannot deal with the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) allegedly due Peoplease, LLC, T.C. Memo. 2025-14, filed 2/6/25, especially since Peoplease doesn’t challenge the $11 million Form 941 tab that underlies the NITL here.

Peoplease didn’t originally claim at Appeals that the ERTC would offset the Form 941 tab. IRS now wants summary J sustaining the levy. Peoplease ripostes with the ERTC, and wants time to get it and pay the tab therewith.

“Petitioner did not raise the asserted submitted amended returns and unprocessed claims for ERTCs for periods not in issue at the CDP hearing. The Court does ‘not have authority to consider section 6330(c)(2) issues that were not raised before the Appeals Office.’ Section 6330(c)(2) issues are ‘any relevant issue[s] relating to the unpaid tax or the proposed levy,’ including, among other things, challenges to the appropriateness of collection actions and challenges to the underlying liability under section 6330(c)(2)(B).

“Further, in a CDP case the Court does not have jurisdiction to determine an overpayment of an unrelated liability. A mere claim of an overpayment is not an available credit and thus cannot be taken into account in a CDP hearing to determine whether the underlying tax in issue remains unpaid.” T. C. Memo. 2025-14, at p. 4. (Citations omitted).

John 20:23 doesn’t apply in US Tax Court.