That’s how Judge Cathy (“NCY = No Cognomen Yet”) Fung sees Section 7517, so she denies summary J to Estate of Kurt A. Amplatz, Deceased, Security Bank & Trust Company, Personal Representative, T. C. Memo. 2025-35, filed 4/23/26.

True, IRS never responded at either of the two (count ’em, two) opportunities it had when SecBank asked them for the Section 7517 bukh on how they got their valuation numbers, wherewith to whack the Estate with the Section 6662(b)(5) and (g) estate tax 40% substantial undervaluation chop. IRS says the Form 886 or their expert’s report did the trick, even though IRS never said so until they moved for summary J.

“Even assuming arguendo that respondent did not comply with section 7517, the remaining question is what remedy, if any, is available to the Estate. As a consequence of respondent’s noncompliance, the Estate asks us to preclude respondent from asserting the value of Mr. Amplatz’s estate determined in the Notice of Deficiency—$15,145,000. Precluding respondent from asserting his determined value would leave us with the Estate’s asserted value of zero, rendering the Notice of Deficiency essentially hollow. We decline to grant that relief. The Estate cites no authority to support its requested relief, and we are not aware of any such authority. We presume the ‘legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says there.’ By its plain text, section 7517 does not suggest any consequence for noncompliance, let alone the harsh result the Estate seeks. 

“We have previously declined to impose severe consequences for noncompliance where the statute itself supplies no enforcement mechanism.” T. C. Memo. 2026-35, at pp.10-11. (Citations omitted).

If the Estate feels it’s been prejudiced by the nonresponse to its Section 7517 ask, “…the Estate may obtain any other necessary information through discovery. With respect to an expert appraisal under section 7517(b)(3), the statute does not contemplate that the Commissioner employ an expert appraisal in all cases. Section 7517(b)(3) refers to ‘a copy of any expert appraisal made.'” T. C. Memo. 2026-35, at p. 12. (Emphasis by the Court). Here, the expert’s report hadn’t yet been prepared when the Estate made its Section 7517 request.

It is for Congress to provide a remedy.

Of course, by this late date, IRS gets the Boss Hossery right.