Commissioner of Taxation & Finance v. Pelletier

16 Mass. L. Rptr. 584
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 2002
DocketNo. 020589B
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 16 Mass. L. Rptr. 584 (Commissioner of Taxation & Finance v. Pelletier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commissioner of Taxation & Finance v. Pelletier, 16 Mass. L. Rptr. 584 (Mass. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Troy, J.

The Commissioner of Taxation and Finance (the “Commissioner”), in the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, brought this action to enforce his rights in Massachusetts under a New York tax warrant issued against the defendant, Peter A. Pelletier (“Pelletier”), a Massachusetts resident, to collect unpaid taxes.

BACKGROUND

The Commissioner is the creditor of Pelletier. Pelletier presently has a usual place of business at 66 Shrine Road, Norwell, Massachusetts. On May 13, 1993, the Commissioner obtained a tax warrant by the State of New York, County of Albany, against Pelletier “individually and as a respnsible (sic) person of Extraversión Inc.” having a last known address at 66 Shrine Road, Norwell, Massachusetts. As of May 13, 1993, Pelletier was liable to the Commissioner under Warrant ID: E-006418066-W001-3, for damages in the amount of $343,364.65, which represents tax, penalties and interest due as of that date. Pelletier is also liable to the Commissioner under the same Warrant ID for interest at the statutory rate of twelve percent (12%). As of July 16, 2001, under the Commissioner’s Consolidated Statement of Tax Liabilities, the Commissioner alleges that Pelletier owes the State of New York the sum of $800,996.97.

The Commissioner seeks to enforce his rights in Massachusetts under the New York taxwarrant issued against Pelletier. Pelletier argues that the tax warrant under which the Commissioner asks this court for relief should not be enforced in Massachusetts as it has not been “reduced to a judgment.” Pelletier’s motion to dismiss is before this court.

DISCUSSION

When evaluating the sufficiency of a complaint pursuant to Mass.RCiv.P. 12(b)(6), the court must accept as true the well pleaded factual allegations of the complaint, as well as any inferences which can be drawn therefrom in the plaintiffs favor. Fairneny v. Savogran Co., 422 Mass. 469, 470 (1996). “[The] complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a [585]*585claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitled him to relief.” Nader v. Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977), quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46 (1957). “[A] complaint is not subject to dismissal if it would support relief on any theory of law.” Whitinsville Plaza, Inc. v. Kotseas, 378 Mass. 85, 89 (1979).

I. Is the Warrant a “Judgment”?

The Commissioner argues that under New York Tax Law, §1141, the court should conclude that Pelletier’s liabilities summarized in the tax warrant constitutes a “judgment” that is enforceable in Massachusetts by operation of the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution. U.S. CONST. Art. IV, § 1.

New York Tax Law §1141 (entitled “Proceedings to recover tax”) provides in pertinent part that:

(a) (w)henever any person required to collect tax shall fail to collect or pay over any tax, penalty or interest imposed by this article as therein provided, or whenever any customer shall fail to pay any such tax, penalty or interest, the attorney general shall, upon the request of the tax commission, bring or cause to be brought an action to enforce the payment of the same on behalf of the state of New York in any court of the state of New York or of any other state or of the United States.
(b) As an additional or alternative remedy, the tax commission may issue a warrant, directed to the sheriff of any county commanding him to levy upon and sell the real and personal property of any person liable for the tax, which may be found within the county... The sheriff shall within five days after the receipt of the warrant file with the county clerk a copy thereof, and thereupon such clerk shall enter in the judgment docket the name of the person mentioned in the warrant . . . Thereupon the amount of such warrant so docketed shall become a lien upon the title to and interest in real and personal property of the person against whom the warrant is issued ... The sheriff shall then proceed upon the warrant, in the same manner, and with like effect, as that provided by law in respect to executions issued against property upon judgments of a court of record . . . Upon such filing of a copy of a warrant, the tax commissioner shall have the same remedies to enforce the amount due thereunder as if the state had recovered judgment therefor.

New York Tax Law, §1141 (emphasis added).

The Commissioner argues that §1141 provides him with two different avenues to collect taxes from Pelletier, who has failed to pay. Id. Section (a) allows for an action to be filed in any court in the United States. Id. at (a). However, the Commissioner sought to collect this tax liability through section (b), which allows for an alternative remedy than filing suit in court. Id. at (b). Under section (b), the tax commissioner is authorized to request and obtain a tax warrant which entitles the tax commissioner to the same remedies to enforce the amount of taxes due as if the state had recovered a judgment against the debtor. Id.

This court interprets the language in section (b) narrowly and concludes that this alternative remedy provided for in section (b) only authorizes the sheriff to levy upon and sell real and/or personal property of any person liable for taxes, which may be found within the county. Here, Pelletier now resides in Norwell, Massachusetts and is no longer found within a New York county. Thus, this court cannot enforce the warrant under section (b) as a “judgment” against Pelletier.

Further, this court is persuaded by, and follows the reasoning in Shapiro, which precluded the plaintiff from recovering against a debtor defendant under a tax warrant similar to the one in this case. The City of New York v. Shapiro, 129 F.Supp. 149, 155 (D. Mass. 1954). In Shapiro, the court allowed the plaintiff to recover based upon an “administrative determination” which it found was analogous to a judgment. Id. The court’s reasoning stemmed from the fact that after the defendant attended the first administrative hearing in New York, he failed to show up again and refused to turn over materials requested by the plaintiff. Id. The tax commissioner had also obtained a tax warrant against the defendant. Id. However, the court specifically precluded recovery under that tax warrant. Id. The court concluded that the “warrants are not determinations or judgments of any kind; they are merely instructions to the equivalents of deputy sheriffs; they tell the agents receiving them what to do by way of execution, docketing, and the like.” Id.

Based on the reasoning in Shapiro, this court cannot construe the warrant against Pelletier as an enforceable “judgment” within the meaning of the full faith and credit clause, U.S. CONST. Art, IV, §1, and its implementing statute, 28 U.S.C. §1739 (1994) (commanding that full faith and credit be granted to valid “public Acts, Records and judicial Proceedings” as well as to valid State records). The facts of this case indicate that the warrant was issued against Pelletier without an administrative hearing.

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Bluebook (online)
16 Mass. L. Rptr. 584, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commissioner-of-taxation-finance-v-pelletier-masssuperct-2002.