Casano v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Casano)

473 B.R. 504, 2012 WL 1804800, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 2298, 109 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2160
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMay 16, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 8-11-79018-478; Adversary No. 8-12-8005-478
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 473 B.R. 504 (Casano v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Casano)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Casano v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Casano), 473 B.R. 504, 2012 WL 1804800, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 2298, 109 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2160 (N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

DOROTHY T. EISENBERG, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the Court is the Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment seeking a determination that federal income taxes due and owing to the Defendant, United States of America, for tax years ending December 31 of 2001 and 2002 are dischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(B) (the “Motion”) and the Defendant’s cross motion for summary judgment claiming that these taxes are excepted from discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(B) (“Cross-Motion”). The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334(a) and (b). This contested matter is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(A), (I), and (O) and 11 U.S.C. § 523. The following constitutes the Court’s finding of fact and conclusions of law as mandated by Bankruptcy Rule 7052.

FACTS

Plaintiff filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy relief on December 29, 2011 (the “Petition Date”). This is a no asset case and the [505]*505last date to object to discharge was April 3, 2012.

Plaintiff asserted that due to business problems, Plaintiff failed to timely file his federal income tax returns or IRS Forms 1040 (the “Forms”) for the 2001 and 2002 tax years. When no tax return was timely filed for those tax years, the United States Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) conducted an examination and issued statutory Notices of Deficiency. This is the routine practice and procedure performed whenever taxpayers fail to file tax returns. The IRS then assessed tax liabilities for the 2001 tax year on October 25, 2004 and for the 2002 tax year on September 12, 2005 based on the unchallenged Notices of Deficiency. When Plaintiff failed to pay the assessments, the IRS sent the Plaintiff Notices of Intent to Levy in July of 2006. Plaintiff subsequently filed his Forms for the 2001 and 2002 tax years in August of 2006. Upon review of the Plaintiffs Forms, the IRS abated the Plaintiffs federal income tax liability (1) for the 2001 tax year by $48,882 and (2) for the 2002 tax year by $35,462.

Shortly after filing his petition for chapter 7 relief, Plaintiff commenced this adversary proceeding on February 7, 2012 seeking a determination that his income tax obligations to the United States and New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for the tax years ending December 31, of 2001, 2002 and 2010 should be discharged entirely on the basis that the tax returns for those years were timely filed or filed more than two years ago; that more than 3 years have expired since the filing of the relevant tax returns; and that the Plaintiff has not been assessed within 240 days prior to the Petition Date.

Defendant filed an Answer on February 8, 2012 denying that the income tax obligations at issue are dischargeable because the debt for the 2001 and 2002 tax years were assessed prior to the Plaintiffs filing of the Forms for those years and as such the assessments are debts for which a return was not filed within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(B)®. In addition, Defendant argued that the federal income tax liability for the 2010 tax year is a priority tax liability under 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(8)(A)® which is nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(A). The Plaintiffs federal income tax return for the 2010 year was filed on or about April 15, 2011, which is within 3 years of the Petition Date and the Plaintiff was assessed within 240 days of the Petition Date. Defendant does admit that the penalties for the 2001 and 2002 tax years are discharge-able.

Plaintiff then filed this Motion seeking a determination that the federal income taxes that may be owed to the United States for the 2001 and 2002 tax years fell within the exception to discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(B) because the federal income tax returns were filed more than two years before the Petition Date.

Defendant, IRS, then filed its Cross-Motion objecting to the Plaintiffs Motion and seeks a determination that the income taxes assessed on October 25, 2004, and on September 12, 2005, for the 2001 and 2002 taxable years, respectively, plus interest, are excepted from discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(B). Defendant argues that the Plaintiffs tax liability for those years were based on defaulted deficiency assessments made by the IRS, and therefore, the liabilities are not based on the Plaintiffs late filed tax Form. It was the IRS’s deficiency assessments which established the basis for its right to collect these taxes. As soon as the IRS assessed the unpaid taxes, the tax liabilities were determined and the exception to discharge became fixed because the Plaintiff had not yet filed any tax returns at the time of the [506]*506assessments. Additionally, the Defendant argues that the tax Forms submitted by the Plaintiff for the 2001 and 2002 tax years do not comply with the definition of “return” as set forth in 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1)(B).

DISCUSSION

Pursuant to Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as made applicable by Bankruptcy Rule 7056, the Court may award summary judgment “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”

Summary judgment is appropriate ... when, ‘after drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of a non-movant, no reasonable trier of fact could find in favor of that party.’ Where the plaintiffs claim must be established by clear and convincing evidence, ‘the issue is whether, with all conflicts in the evidence resolved and all reasonable inferences drawn in favor of the nonmoving party, the record contains sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find for the nonmoving party under the clear and convincing standard.’

In re Allou Distributors, Inc., 446 B.R. 32, 49 (Bankr.E.D.N.Y.2011) (citations omitted). When no genuine triable issues of material fact exist, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment should be granted. Knight v. U.S. Fire Ins. Co., 804 F.2d 9, 11 (2d Cir.1986).

The parties agree that there are no genuine triable issues of fact in dispute. Accordingly, summary judgment is appropriate in this instance.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re: Starling
S.D. New York, 2021
Bryan Starling
S.D. New York, 2020
Justice v. United States, Treasury Department
817 F.3d 738 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
Mallo v. Internal Revenue Service (In Re Mallo)
774 F.3d 1313 (Tenth Circuit, 2014)
Martin v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Martin)
508 B.R. 717 (E.D. California, 2014)
Wendt v. United States (In re Wendt)
512 B.R. 716 (S.D. Florida, 2013)
Mallo v. United States (In re Mallo)
498 B.R. 268 (D. Colorado, 2013)
Wogoman v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Wogoman)
475 B.R. 239 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
473 B.R. 504, 2012 WL 1804800, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 2298, 109 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/casano-v-internal-revenue-service-in-re-casano-nyeb-2012.