Cases like Craig Bernier & Lynette Contreni Bernier, Docket No. 2196-26S, filed 5/13/26, are the daily gravel that comes to the Tax Court gold pan. The IRS sends form letters which addressees petition, even though none of same are deemed SNDs by Ch J Patrick J. (“Scholar Pat”) Urda or his colleagues. Hence the petitions are dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
So the petitioners are out sixty Georges, and their frustration, acknowledged in the boilerplate order, goes unredressed.
But is there a hidden nugget in the grit at the bottom of the pan?
IRS acknowledges in its filing with Tax Court that no SND was issued as at the date of the order. That acknowledgement also fixes a locus for 3SOL and 6SOL. If at a later date the SOL issue arises, there is the statement and the order embodying it. See FRE 801(d)(2).
Has any reader any experience to share? What do you tell a client in these circumstances?
Taishoff Law 
I don’t understand. How would the IRS answer change the SOL, other than extending it far beyond the original starting point?
I once filed a petition for a client who had claimed a $400 refund on an amended return, and received a $400 bill from IRS instead. The CP22 notice “we have adjusted your account” was, of course, rejected as a non-SNOD. It included the taxpayer name, address, tax year and amount assessed, but did not pass the subjective test for which Judge Kerrigan supplied multiple citations. However, it did expedite the refund and freeze further collection notices.
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Mr. Kamman, thank you for your comment. As you rightly point out, there is no standard form of SND, so any letter containing the basic statutory elements might be construed to be a SND. Establishing that a communication is not a SND can have tactical value, keeping options open while the time limit on assessment is running out. Of course there is the risk that the stay on assessment resulting from filing a petition may extend the statute until the order dismissing the petition becomes final. But more important is your experience that filing a petition put you in touch with someone at IRS who could say “yes” and help you solve your client’s problem. Getting through to a human being who has both knowledge and the ability to use it to your advantage is well worth the sixty bucks and the twenty minutes it takes to fill in form petition and file it online.
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