Estate of Hake v. United States

234 F. Supp. 3d 626, 2017 WL 551813, 119 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 727, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19020
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 10, 2017
DocketCivil No. 1:15-CV-1382
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 234 F. Supp. 3d 626 (Estate of Hake v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Hake v. United States, 234 F. Supp. 3d 626, 2017 WL 551813, 119 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 727, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19020 (M.D. Pa. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Martin C. Carlson, United States Magistrate Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

In this action, two executors to their late mother’s estate have sued the United States seeking abatement and reimbursement of a penalty that was assessed after the executors were late in filing the estate’s tax returns. The executors did not simply neglect to comply with a deadline that was known to them. To the contrary, the executors filed the return on the date that their tax attorney advised them that it was due, after the estate had been granted extensions of both its filing and payment deadlines. Indeed, the executors took care to pay the taxes that they believe were owed well before payment was due and in an amount that later proved to be more than $100,000 in excess of what was actually owed. Nevertheless, the' executors unquestionably filed the estate’s return approximately six months’ late, having been incorrectly advised by tax professionals that the return deadline had also been extended for one year, something that was admittedly inaccurate, and in fact was generally unavailable under governing tax laws and regulations. For this error the executors were assessed a late penalty in the amount of $197,868.26, and interest of $17,202.44 imposed pursuant to section 6651(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.1

There appears to be no real dispute between the executors and the United States that the return was filed on July 2, [628]*6282013, and that it was filed on this date because the executors had been advised by tax professionals they had retained that they had been granted a one-year extension to file the return and to pay the taxes owed on the estate. There is also no dispute between the parties that this advice was incorrect, and that tax law permits only a six-month extension of time to file an estate tax return for domestic executors, whereas it permits up to a one-year extension to pay the taxes owed. The executors’-.counsel has candidly acknowledged that the advice he. gave his clients was wrong..

The executors pursued an administrative appeal for abatement of the penalty on August 13, 2013. When that appeal was rejected, the executors paid the entire balance, owed for penalty and interest. The executors then took steps to secure a refund of,the penalty and interest, and exhausted their administrative remedies with the Internal Revenue Service, all of. which were unsuccessful.2 This litigation followed when the executors filed a complaint on July 15,2015.

The parties have now filed cross-motions for summary judgment, (Docs. 23, 33), which have been fully briefed and are ripe for disposition.. Upon consideration of the parties’ briefs, the unique and undisputed facts of this case, as well as the developing law in this field, the Court finds that the executors’ reliance upon the advice of their counsel in these particular circumstances regarding the applicable deadlines for filing the estate’s return was reasonable, and, therefore, the imposition of the penalties and interest was not warranted. In reaching this conclusion, the Court acknowledges the United States’ arguments regarding the application of emerging case law from other courts in this field, but finds that application of authority from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to the particular facts of this case compels this outcome.

II. BACKGROUND

Esther M. Hake died on October 2, 2011. Two of her sons, Ricky ánd Randy Hake, were qualified as the executors of her estate pursuant to the grant of Letters Testamentary by the York County Register of Wills on October 31, 2011. At the time of Mrs. Hake’s death, she was legally incapacitated and her five surviving children were locked in an intra-family dispute over her care and the value of her assets. (Dep. of Ricky Hake (“Ricky Dep.”) at 10-13 and 20-25; Dep. of Douglas P. France (“France Dep.”) at 10-19, 28.) The dispute among Mrs. Hake’s children impaired the ability of Ricky and Randy Hake to administer the estate efficiently, made difficult [629]*629the process of obtaining appraisals of the family grocery business, and delayed the preparation of the required tax returns. (Ricky Dep. at 10, 14, 52; France Dep. at 14-19.) These factors, in turn, led the Hakes to secure, and rely upon, the advice of legal and tax professionals.

There is no dispute that the Hake brothers had no experience with probate law, inheritance taxation, federal estate taxation, or related matters. (Ricky Dep. at 25-33, 39.) Accordingly, to assist them in their legal duties, the executors engaged Douglas P. France of the firm France Paskey as tax professionals and estate attorneys to advise the executors on all tax matters and related estate administration, including the calculation, preparation, payment, and filing of federal taxes and tax returns. (Ricky Dep. at 5, 13; Dep. of Randy Hake (“Randy Dep.”) at 18; France Dep. at 11,21-22.) Owing to his longstanding representation of the family and its business affairs, the executors relied on the legal counsel of France and his associate, Jennifer Galloway. (Ricky Dep. at 5, 13-14; Randy Dep. at 20-21; France Dep. at 70-71.)

Federal tax law provides that an estate-tax return, Form 706, must be filed within nine months of the decedent’s death. 26 U.S.C. 6075(a); 26 C.F.R. § 20.6075-1. Accordingly, the estate’s federal tax return and tax payment were due on July 2, 2012. (Dep. of Ricky Hake at 5, 7, 40; France Dep. at 20-21.) Although the executors intended to file the taxes and return by this deadline, it became apparent that this would be impossible because of the ongoing family disputes surrounding valuation of the estate’s assets. (Ricky Dep. at 7-8, 51-52; France Dep. at 24-25, 31-34; Dep. of Jennifer Galloway (“Galloway Dep.”) at 17-18.) In order to give them time to resolve these ancillary issues, France advised the executors to seek extensions of time in which to file the return and pay the taxes owed. (Ricky Dep. at 17, 43; Randy Dep. at 11, 13; France Dep. at 36-37, 87-88.) Pursuant to the executors’ direction, France filed a Form 4768 on June 12,2012, seeking extensions of time to file the return and pay the taxes. (Galloway Dep. at 9; France Dep., Ex. 1.) France advised the executors to seek the longest extension possible, in part because he did not know what the limits on such an extension were, as he had never before filed for such an extension. (Ricky Dep. at 19; France Dep. at 37, 83.) Galloway prepared and filed the Form 4768 and, upon approval, informed France that the deadline to pay the taxes and return had been extended for one year. (France Dep. at 36-38, 41, 60; Galloway Dep. at 9, 12-16, 20, 25, 41; Ricky Dep. at 46-47, 67.) France, in turn, informed the executors that they had been granted a one-year extension of the deadlines. (Ricky Dep. at 55, 68; Randy Dep. at 4, 7,12; France Dep. at 42, 67, 71.)

France and Galloway’s advice was wrong, as Treasury Regulation 26 C.F.R. 20.6081-1 generally limits any extension to file the Form 706 return to six months for executors in the United States.3

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Bluebook (online)
234 F. Supp. 3d 626, 2017 WL 551813, 119 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 727, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19020, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-hake-v-united-states-pamd-2017.