Hugh H. Eby Co. v. United States

319 F. Supp. 942, 27 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 427, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9282
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided December 7, 1970·No. Civ. A. No. 43491·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WEINER, District Judge.

Counter motions for summary judgment bring up for review the question of whether a taxpayer may recover interest paid on federal taxes which accrued between the date when the plaintiff filed a petition in bankruptcy and the time when the Bankruptcy Court entered its order confirming the plaintiff’s plan of arrangement. Since the facts [943] are not in dispute and have been stipulated, there is presented solely an issue of law as to which of these parties is entitled to judgment.

Briefly summarized the stipulated facts indicate that on June 18, 1956, the taxpayer filed a Reorganization Petition under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act with the United States District Court for the Eastern District, of Pennsylvania. Subsequently the proceedings were converted into an Arrangement Proceeding under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act. The plan was confirmed by the Court. Under the terms of the confirmation order the taxpayer was obliged to make specified monthly payments in satisfaction of all taxes as “finally determined by the Internal Revenue Service to be due and owing”, subject however, to the taxpayer’s right to contest the Government’s tax claim. All of the liabilities comprising the tax claim and payment of interest during the time interval at issue were then paid. The plaintiff filed claims for refund with the Internal Revenue Service seeking a recovery of the interest which claims were rejected. Thereafter, the present action was instituted.

In restricting the ambit of recovery, well established precedents have established the principle that creditors of a bankrupt are only entitled to submit claims against the bankrupt’s estate which include interest to the date of the debtor’s petition. Sexton v. Dreyfus, 219 U.S. 339, 31 S.Ct. 256, 55 L.Ed. 244 (1910); American Iron & Steel Manufacturing Company v. Seaboard Air Line Railway, 233 U.S. 261, 34 S.Ct. 502, 58 L.Ed. 949 (1913). Citing United States v. General Engineering & Manufacturing Company, 188 F.2d 80 (8th Cir. 1951) aff’d per curiam, 342 U.S. 912, 72 S.Ct. 358, 96 L.Ed. 682 (1952) and City of New York v. Saper, 336 U.S. 328, 69 S.Ct. 554, 93 L.Ed. 710 (1949), the government concedes that the rule prohibiting creditors from filing claims for post-petition interest against a debtor’s estate applies equally to Chapter XI proceedings and to interest running on federal taxes. Thus, the United States is prevented from collecting post-petition interest on a tax claim out of the estate of a bankrupt, unless the estate is sufficiently large to satisfy the claims of all creditors in full. The threshold question in this case is whether the government can collect post-petition interest from the assets which a debtor acquires following a discharge in bankruptcy. The answer depends upon the breadth of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruning v. United States, 376 U.S. 358, 84 S.Ct. 906, 11 L.Ed.2d 772 (1964). Apparently defendant relies on the opinion in Bruning as authority for its position. Plaintiff seeks to distinguish Bruning on the ground that its decision is not decisive in this case and points out that the holdings in National Foundry Co. of New York v. Director of Internal Revenue, 229 F.2d 149 (2d Cir. 1956); Sword Line v. Industrial Commissioner of New York, 212 F.2d 865 (2d Cir. 1954) cert. denied 348 U.S. 830, 75 S.Ct. 53, 99 L.Ed. 654 (1954) and Columbia Aircraft Company v. United States, 163 F.Supp. 932 (S.D.N.Y.1958) had established the legal principle that where the taxes have been paid in the bankruptcy proceeding, post-petition interest was not collectible. However, these opinions were prior to that of Bruning. The strongest eases in the plaintiff’s arsenal are In re Vaughan, 292 F.Supp. 731, 732 (E.D.Ky.1968) and In re Johnson Electrical Corporation, 312 F.Supp. 840, 841 (S.D.N.Y.1969).1 In Vaughan and Johnson the District Courts concluded that the Bruning decision supported the position that a taxpayer’s personal liability for post-petition interest is limited to only such interest as accrues on the unpaid portion of the tax claim, rather than the interest which might accrue on the entire tax claim. Hence, the plaintiff argues that as it has paid its entire tax obligation the government improperly collected post-petition interest. Defend[944] ant’s central theme was and is that the cases in which the plaintiff places its faith were incorrectly decided. It is argued that- the court’s decision in Bruning laid to rest the theory advocated by the taxpayer. The government adopts the view that the Bruning decision is the controlling authority for the principle that a taxpayer remains responsible for the payment of post-petition interest.

We commence our analysis against the backdrop of the provisions of section 17 of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C. § 35 which in relevant part provides that a discharge in bankruptcy shall not release a bankrupt from taxes still due the United States. As previously stated, interest accruing prior to and post bankruptcy proceedings are also collectible. We believe that Bruning compels a conclusion that the plaintiff is also responsible for payment for interest which accrued on the government’s tax claim between the petition date and the entry of the order of confirmation. In the course of its opinion the Supreme Court in Bruning, speaking through its Mr. Chief Justice Warren observed:

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Hugh H. Eby Co. v. United States, 319 F. Supp. 942, 27 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 427, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9282 (E.D. Pa. 1970).

319 F. Supp. 942 (Hugh H. Eby Co. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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