Gangi v. United States

2 F. Supp. 3d 12, 113 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1175, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27373, 2014 WL 879560
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedMarch 4, 2014
DocketCivil Action Nos. 14-10114-DPW, 14-10115-DPW, 14-10116-DPW, 14-10117-DPW
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2 F. Supp. 3d 12 (Gangi v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gangi v. United States, 2 F. Supp. 3d 12, 113 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1175, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27373, 2014 WL 879560 (D. Mass. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

DOUGLAS P. WOODLOCK, District Judge.

The Internal Revenue Service is engaged in an investigation to determine whether Frank Gangi, one of the petitioners before me, owes federal income tax liability for the years 2000 through 2004. As part of that investigation, the IRS has issued four summonses to third parties located in Massachusetts.

[15]*15The petitioners have filed petitions seeking to quash each of these summonses, contending, among other things, that the IRS’s investigation is being conducted for an improper purpose and in bad faith. I reject the petitioners’ contentions and will enforce the summonses.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Four Summonses

The IRS issued the first summons on February 25, 2010 to Edward Taylor, an accountant at the firm Nardella & Taylor, seeking testimony and documents related to Mr. Gangi as well as Ferrous Miner Holdings, Ltd., BABP VI LLC, Global NAPS, Inc., and other controlled entities of Mr. Gangi. The second and third summonses were issued on April 12, 2010 to John O. Postl and South Coastal Bank. The Postl summons seeks documents and testimony relating to the same entities as the Taylor summons and additionally Chesapeake Investment Services, Inc. The South Coastal summons seeks documents and testimony relating to Mr. Gangi, BABP VI, LLC and any controlled entities. The documents sought in the Taylor, Postl, and South Coastal Bank summonses include financial and tax records, meeting records, and other information relevant to Mr. Gangi’s residency and income.

The fourth summons was issued to E. Oliver Fowlkes seeking documents relating to Mr. Gangi’s attempts to adopt a child, his residency in the U.S. Virgin Islands, his residential and business addresses and contact information, meetings with Mr. Gangi, and services provided by Mr. Fowlkes to Mr. Gangi.

Mr. Gangi, Ferrous Miner, BABP VI, Global NAPS, and Chesapeake filed petitions to quash the Taylor and Postl summonses on March 18 and April 27, 2010, respectively. On June 10, 2010 and September 30, 2010, the United States filed oppositions to the petitions to quash and motions to enforce the summonses.

Mr. Gangi et al. also filed petitions to quash the South Coastal Bank and Fowlkes summonses on May 5, 2010 and May 18, 2010. Before the lapse of the sixty-day response period provided to the United States under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a)(2), another judge of this the Court granted the petitions to quash because no timely opposition had been filed under the Court’s local rules. The United States has filed motions to vacate the grant of the petitions, to deny the petitions, and to enforce the summonses in both cases.

The petitions were consolidated to me as the judge to whom the first-filed petition was assigned on April 10, 2012 on the Court’s Miscellaneous Business Docket where they were originally filed.

As a result of misunderstandings regarding the proper protocal to be followed in the Clerk’s Office when summons enforcement is contested, the matters did not come to my attention for decision until the government moved for an expedited hearing on the outstanding motions. After directing the designation of these matters as contested civil cases and transferring the cases from the miscellaneous business docket to the regular civil docket, I afforded the parties an opportunity for further updated briefing.

B. The New Jersey and Kansas Summonses

In addition to the present litigation, Mr. Gangi filed petitions challenging IRS summonses in District Courts in New Jersey and Kansas, raising many of the same arguments he presents to this court. See Gangi v. United States, 2011 WL 765883 (D.Kan. Feb. 25, 2011); Gangi v. United States, 2011 WL 1363816 (D.N.J. Jan. 7, [16]*162011), aff'd Gangi v. United States, 453 Fed.Appx. 255 (3rd Cir.2011).

Both the New Jersey and Kansas District courts evaluated Mr. Gangi’s challenge under the Powell standard (described below), and found that the IRS investigation relating to Mr. Gangi’s federal tax liability was being conducted pursuant to a proper purpose, that the information sought in the summons was relevant to that purpose, that the information sought was not within the IRS’s possession, and that the summonses had been issued in good faith and not as an abuse of process.

In the Kansas case, the court also determined that the IRS had followed all legally required administrative steps and so denied the petition to quash and required enforcement of the summons. Gangi 2011 WL 765883, at *5. In the New Jersey case, the court determined that the IRS had failed to give proper advance notice of contact with third parties to certain of the petitioners, as required by 26 U.S.C. § 7602(c), and, accordingly limited the enforcement of the summonses as to those petitioners. Gangi 2011 WL 1363816, at *7-9. The court otherwise denied the petition to quash and required enforcement of the summonses, id., after which the Third Circuit affirmed.

II. ANALYSIS

A Legal Standard

The investigative power of the IRS is structured in part by 26 U.S.C. § 7602. Section 7602(a) authorizes the IRS to issue summonses “[f]or the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of any return, making a return where none has been made, determining the liability of any person for any internal revenue tax ..., or collecting any such liability.” Pursuant to this provision, the IRS may “examine any books, papers, records, or other data which may be relevant or material to such inquiry.” 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a)(1).

Taxpayers may file a petition seeking to quash an IRS summons and the IRS may file a petition seeking its enforcement. 26 U.S.C. §§ 7604, 7606. Enforcement proceedings concerning an IRS summons are designed to be summary in nature, Sugarloaf Funding, LLC v. U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, 584 F.3d 340, 345 (1st Cir.2009) (citation omitted), and the court’s role in such a proceeding “is to ensure that the IRS is using its broad authority in good faith and in compliance with the law.” United States v. Gertner, 65 F.3d 963, 966 (1st Cir.1995). When a challenge to a summons is filed, the government must satisfy the court that “(1) its investigation is being conducted pursuant to a proper purpose, (2) the information sought in the summons is (or may be) relevant to that purpose, (3) the information is not already within the IRS’s possession, and (4) all legally required administrative steps have been followed.” Id. (citing United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 57-58, 85 S.Ct. 248, 13 L.Ed.2d 112 (1964)).

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2 F. Supp. 3d 12, 113 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1175, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27373, 2014 WL 879560, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gangi-v-united-states-mad-2014.