Tax Notes reposted this
John H. Bushmer Endowed Professor of Law, Villanova Univ. Widger School of Law; Author, Saltzman & Book, IRS Practice & Procedure; Co-founder/Author, Procedurally Taxing@Tax Notes; Sr. Fellow, Center for Taxpayer Rights
At Procedurally Taxing this week on Tax Notes guest contributor Justin Schwegel has a terrific four part series discussing Fowler v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. 106 (2020). Under Fowler, documents transmitted to the IRS through its e-filing system that meet the criteria outlined in Beard v. Commissioner are returns notwithstanding an IRS electronic rejection. As Justin discusses, the principle in Fowler has far-reaching implications, including the statute of limitations on assessment, civil penalties, the validity of the IRS's use of the substitute for return procedures, the possible discharge of tax liabilities in bankruptcy, and the ability of taxpayers to receive interest on refunds on rejected returns that reflect an overpayment. For good measure, the series concludes with practical recommendations for the IRS. That requires moving away from emphasizing its convenience to a process that respects the taxpayer right to a fair and just tax system. As an added bonus, changes should lessen significant downstream costs to the IRS, taxpayers and practitioners. This series is all outside the paywall, with the final post linking to the entire series. https://lnkd.in/e5pTCQDQ