Aikman v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Aikman)

554 B.R. 95, 2016 WL 3974173
United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania·Decided July 22, 2016·No. Bankruptcy No. 10-20369-CMB·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER DENYING DEBTOR’S MOTION TO ENFORCE DISCHARGE AND FOR RETURN OF SEIZED INCOME TAX REFUND

Carlota M. Bohm, United States Bankruptcy Judge

The matter before the Court is the Debtor’s Motion to Enforce Discharge and for Return of Seized Income Tax Refund (“Motion”)1 and the Internal Revenue Service’s (the “IRS”) Response thereto (“Response”).2 A hearing on the Motion and Response was held on May 10, 2016 whereby the Parties were directed to submit memoranda in support of their respective positions. Accordingly, the Debtor and the IRS each filed a brief3 and the parties filed a joint stipulation as to the materials facts.4 The matter is now ripe for decision.5

Factual Background and Procedural History

The facts are undisputed. This case was commenced on January 22, 2010 (the “Pe[97] tition Date”) when the Debtor filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code.6 The IRS filed a Proof of Claim at the outset of the Debtor’s Chapter 13 case on February 18, 2010.7 The IRS filed an Amended Proof of Claim dated June 1, 2010 (“Amended Claim”).8

The Amended Claim indicates a total indebtedness in the amount of $52,813.99 representing unpaid taxes, interest and penalties thereon for tax years 2006 and 2007. Both the 2006 and 2007 tax indebtedness were due within three years of the Petition Date. The Amended Claim breaks down the tax liability as follows: a secured claim in the amount of $6,845.57; an unsecured priority claim in the amount of $38,370.09 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(8); and a general unsecured claim in the amount of $7,598.33. The general unsecured amount represents “penalty to date of petition on unsecured priority claims (including interest thereon).”9 The Debtor did not incur any additional unpaid tax obligations to the IRS for any year other than 2006 and 2007.10

The Debtor, through his Chapter 13 plan, made payments to the IRS in which the secured and unsecured priority claims were paid in full, while the general unsecured claim was paid down, but retained a balance of approximatély $7,000.00.11 Thereafter, the case was converted to Chapter 7 on October 31, 2014.12 The Debtor received a discharge under section 727 of the Bankruptcy Code on February 27, 2015 (“Discharge Order”).13

The Debtor filed his 2015 federal income tax return in February of 2016. From the 2015 tax return, the Debtor was to receive a federal income tax refund in the amount of $2,873.00 (“Refund”). However, the Debtor never received the Refund as the IRS seized it, indicating the Refund would be applied to the delinquent taxes left unpaid by the Debtor in his bankruptcy. Now the Debtor seeks the release of the Refund to the Debtor as well as a correction to all records to indicate there are no additional monies due and owing to the IRS alleging the IRS’s seizure of the Refund violated the discharge injunction as a wrongful attempt to collect a discharged debt.

Analysis

A discharge under § 727 of the Bankruptcy Code generally discharges the debtor from all debts that arose before the filing of the debtor’s petition with some notable exceptions, including certain debts provided in § 523.14 As applicable to the present issue, § 523(a)(1)(A) does not permit a Chapter 7 debtor to discharge any debt for a tax as specified in section 507(a)(3) or 507(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code, whether or not a claim for such tax [98] was filed or allowed.15 Nondischargeable taxes under § 507(a)(8) include claims for a tax on or measured by income for a taxable year due within the three years before the date the petition is filed.16 The Parties agree and the Court finds that the Debtor’s 2006 and 2007 federal tax returns were both due within three (3) years of the Petition Date.17 As such, the taxes comprising the IRS’s secured claim and unsecured priority claim are the kinds of taxes described in section 507(a)(8) and, therefore, are not dischargeable pursuant to section 523(a)(1)(A). This conclusion, however does not resolve whether the IRS could seize the Refund to recover the general Unsecured claim — a claim including the penalties, on the section 507(a)(8) taxes.

While section 523(a)(1) is dispositive of the dischargeability issue for the tax and interest portions of a debtor’s tax liabilities, § 523(a)(7) determines the discharge-ability of the penalty portion — the kind of debt at the center of the. instant dispute. Section 523(a)(7) provides:

(a) A discharge under section 727, 1141, 1228(a), 1228(b), or 1328(b) of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—
(7) to the extent such debt is for a fíne, penalty, or forfeiture payable to and for the benefit of a governmental unit, and is not compensation for actual pecuniary loss, other than a tax penalty—
(A) relating to a tax of a kind not specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection; or
(B) imposed with respect to a transaction or event that occurred before three years before the date of the filing of the petition;

The statute’s plain language provides two exceptions in which a tax penalty may be found to be dischargeable:18 (A) if the penalty was imposed upon a tax that is dischargeable19 or (B) if the penalty was “imposed with respect to a transaction or event that occurred [more than] three years before the date, of the filing of the petition.”20 Here, the debt in question fails to fall into either category of exceptions that permits the discharge of tax debts provided in subsection (A) or (B) of section 523(a)(7).

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Aikman v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Aikman), 554 B.R. 95, 2016 WL 3974173 (Pa. 2016).

554 B.R. 95 (Aikman v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Aikman)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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