Assume that you’re a conniving individual. The pesky IRS sends you a notice of non-payment. You decide to either (a) ignore it, or (b) move, but not give the IRS your new address. What will happen? Today, the Tax Court weighed in.
When the IRS sends you a notice, they send it to your last known address. If you move, the IRS has a form for you to file, Form 8822, that you can use to notify them of your new address. (Most state tax agencies have similar forms; California has Form 3533.) It’s your responsibility to notify the IRS. If you filed your tax return with a new mailing address, that also is sufficient notification. By the way, like anything else you send to the IRS (or FTB), you should send your change of address by certified mail, return receipt requested so that you have proof that you mailed the notice.
In the case at issue today the petitioners did none of those things. They claimed that they didn’t receive the IRS’s notices. In their case, they hand’t moved, and it may be that the PO Box they used had horrible service. Or it may be that they did receive the notices, and ignored them. Unfortunately for the petitioners, the Tax Court chose not to accept their testimony of non-receipt, and they lost their case.