On December 30, 2021, the Tax Court issued a Memorandum Opinion in the case of Pfetzer v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2021-145). The primary issue presented in Pfetzer was whether the settlement officer failed to fulfill duty to verify that valid notices of deficiency were issued and mailed to taxpayer. Held: You betcha...but the IRS still managed to lose. Background to Pfetzer v. Commissioner The petitioner was not a model taxpayer. In point of fact, the petitioner failed to file Federal income tax returns for 2004 through 2012. The IRS prepared substitutes for return pursuant to IRC § 6020(b), and it assessed tax for all nine years. Unfortunately for the IRS, the record does not include any notices of deficiency for these years. Consequently, the petitioner did not petition the Tax Court to challenge notices of deficiency for any of these years…because...well...there weren’t any. In June 2016, after failing to pay…