Tax Legal Services · Primary-source case analysis

Boechler: The Tax Court’s CDP Petition Deadline Is Not Jurisdictional

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published September 12, 2026

Boechler, P.C. filed its petition one day late after the IRS sustained a proposed levy. The Tax Court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court considered whether section 6330(d)(1) clearly made timely filing a jurisdictional prerequisite.

Jurisdiction requires a clear congressional statement

A filing rule is not jurisdictional merely because it appears near a jurisdictional grant. Congress must clearly tie the deadline to the court’s adjudicatory authority before lateness becomes an absolute jurisdictional bar.

Section 6330(d)(1) lacked that clear tie

The statute’s wording and structure did not clearly condition the Tax Court’s jurisdiction on filing within 30 days. Ambiguous references and neighboring provisions cut against treating the deadline as jurisdictional.

Equitable tolling was presumptively available

Because the deadline was a nonjurisdictional claims-processing rule and Congress had not rebutted the ordinary tolling presumption, the Court held that section 6330(d)(1) is subject to equitable tolling in an appropriate case.

Tolling is not automatic

The Court did not decide that Boechler qualified for tolling. A late filer still must establish diligence and an extraordinary circumstance or otherwise satisfy the governing equitable-tolling standard on remand.

Key takeaways

• File within 30 days whenever possible.
• Do not label the CDP petition deadline jurisdictional after Boechler.
• Develop diligence and extraordinary-circumstance evidence for tolling.
• Distinguish eligibility for tolling from entitlement to tolling on the facts.