Section 301.6861-1 - Jeopardy assessments of income, estate, gift, and certain excise taxes(a)Authority for making. If a district director or director of a service center believes that the assessment or collection of a deficiency in income, estate, gift, or chapter 41, 42, 43, or 44 tax will be jeopardized by delay, then the director is required to assess such deficiency immediately, together with the interest, additional amounts, and additions to the tax provided by law. A district director will make an assessment under this section if collection is determined to be in jeopardy because at least one of the conditions described in § 1.6851-1(a)(1) (i), (ii), or (iii) (relating to termination assessments) exists. A jeopardy assessment may be made before or after the mailing of the notice of deficiency provided by section 6212. However, a jeopardy assessment for a taxable year under section 6861 cannot be made after a decision of the Tax Court with respect to such taxable year has become final (see section 7481) or after the taxpayer has filed a petition for review of the decision of the Tax Court with respect to such taxable year. In the case of a deficiency determined by a decision of the Tax Court which has become final or with respect to which the taxpayer has filed a petition for review and has not filed a bond as provided in section 7485, assessment may be made in accordance with the provisions of section 6215, without regard to section 6861.(b)Amount of jeopardy assessment. If a notice of a deficiency is mailed to the taxpayer before it is discovered that delay would jeopardize the assessment or collection of the tax, a jeopardy assessment may be made in an amount greater or less than that included in the deficiency notice. If a deficiency is assessed on account of jeopardy after the decision of the Tax Court is rendered, the jeopardy assessment may be made only with respect to the deficiency determined by the Tax Court.(c)Jurisdiction of Tax Court. If the jeopardy assessment is made before the notice in respect of the tax to which the jeopardy assessment relates has been mailed pursuant to section 6212(a), the district director shall, within 60 days after the making of the assessment, send the taxpayer a notice of deficiency pursuant to such subsection. The taxpayer may file a petition with the Tax Court for a redetermination of the amount of the deficiency within the time prescribed in section 6213(a). If the petition of the taxpayer is filed with the Tax Court, either before or after the making of the jeopardy assessment, the Commissioner, through his counsel, is required to notify the Tax Court of such assessment or of any abatement thereof, and the Tax Court has jurisdiction to redetermine the amount of the deficiency, together with all other amounts assessed at the same time in connection therewith.(d)Payment and collection of jeopardy assessment. After a jeopardy assessment has been made, the district director is required to send notice and demand to the taxpayer for the amount of the jeopardy assessment. Regardless of whether the taxpayer has filed a petition with the Tax Court, he is required to make payment of the amount of such assessment (to the extent that it has not been abated) within 10 days after the sending of notice and demand by the district director, unless before the expiration of such 10-day period he files with the district director a bond as provided in section 6863. Section 6331 provides that, if the district director makes a finding that the collection of the tax is in jeopardy, he may make demand for immediate payment of the amount of the jeopardy assessment and, in such case, the taxpayer shall immediately pay such amount or shall immediately file the bond provided in section 6863. If a petition is not filed with the Tax Court within the period prescribed in section 6213(a), the district director will be so advised, and, if collection of the deficiency has been stayed by the timely filing of a bond as provided in section 6863, he should then give notice and make demand for payment of the amount assessed plus interest. After the Tax Court has rendered its decision and such decision has become final, the district director will be notified of the action taken. He will then send notice and demand for payment of the unpaid portion of the amount determined by the Tax Court, the collection of which has been stayed by the bond. If the amount of the jeopardy assessment is less than the amount determined by the Tax Court, the difference will be assessed and collected as part of the tax upon the issuance of a notice and demand therefor. If the amount of the jeopardy assessment is in excess of the amount determined by the Tax Court, the unpaid portion of such excess will be abated. If any part of the excess amount has been paid, it will be credited or refunded to the taxpayer as provided in section 6402, without the filing of claim therefor.(e)Abatement of excessive assessment. The district director or the director of the regional service center may, at any time before the decision of the Tax Court is rendered, abate a jeopardy assessment in whole or in part if the district director believes that such assessment is excessive in amount.(f)Abatement if jeopardy does not exist.(1) The district director or the director of the regional service center may abate a jeopardy assessment in whole or in part, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the district director that jeopardy does not exist. An abatement may not be made under this paragraph after a decision of the Tax Court in respect of the deficiency has been rendered or, if no petition is filed with such court, after the expiration of the period for filing such petition.(2) After abatement of a jeopardy assessment in whole or in part, a deficiency may be assessed and collected in the manner authorized by law as if the jeopardy assessment or part thereof so abated had not existed. If a notice of deficiency has been sent to the taxpayer before the abatement of the jeopardy assessment in whole or in part, whether such notice was sent before or after the making of the assessment, such abatement will not affect the validity of the notice or of any proceedings for redetermination based thereon. The period of limitation on the making of assessments and the beginning of levy or a proceeding in court for collection in respect of any deficiency shall be determined as if the jeopardy assessment so abated had not been made, except that the running of such period shall in any event be suspended for the period from the date of such jeopardy assessment until the expiration of the tenth day after the date on which such jeopardy assessment is abated in whole or in part. The provisions of this subparagraph may be illustrated by the following example: Example. On March 18, 1958, 28 days before the last day of the 3-year period of limitations on assessment, a jeopardy assessment is made in respect of a proposed deficiency. On May 2, 1958, before the mailing of the notice of deficiency provided by section 6861(b), this assessment is abated. By virtue of this subparagraph, the last day of the period of limitations for the making of an assessment is June 9, 1958, that is, the 38th day after the date of the abatement. If the notice of deficiency provided for in section 6861(b) has been sent before the abatement, the running of the period of limitations on assessment would have been suspended pursuant to the provisions of the section 6503(a).
(3) See section 7429 with respect to requesting the district director to review the making of the jeopardy assessment.(g)Special rules for chapters 42 and 43 taxes. For purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the amount of a deficiency with respect to any tax imposed by section 4941(a), 4942(a), 4943(a), 4944(a), 4945(a), 4951(a), 4952(a), 4955(a), 4971(a) or 4975(a) shall include the amount of additional tax imposed by section 4941(b), 4942(b), 4943(b), 4944(b), 4945(b), 4951(b), 4952(b), 4955(b), 4971(b) or 4975(b) for failure to correct the act (or failure to act) which gave rise to liability for the initial tax.32 FR 15241, Nov. 3, 1967, as amended by T.D. 7575, 43 FR 58817, Dec. 18, 1978; T.D. 7838, 47 FR 44253, Oct. 7, 1982; T.D. 8084, 51 FR 16305, May 2, 1986; T.D. 8628, 60 FR 62213, Dec. 5, 1995