Humphrey v. United States

854 F. Supp. 2d 1301, 2011 WL 7662515, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154857
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedDecember 19, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. 1:11-CV-01647-SCJ
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 854 F. Supp. 2d 1301 (Humphrey v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Humphrey v. United States, 854 F. Supp. 2d 1301, 2011 WL 7662515, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154857 (N.D. Ga. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

STEVE C. JONES, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. No. 4], For reasons given below, the motion is DENIED.

[1302]*1302BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a tax preparer who sold a tax shelter program (the “Shelter”) that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) deemed abusive [Doc. No. 1, pp. 5-7]. Because of Plaintiffs tax shelter sales, the IRS levied a $101,469.00 penalty against her (the “Penalty”), and suspended her from participating in its e-file program for two years (the “Suspension”) [id. at pp. 11-13]. Plaintiff now seeks, inter alia, to have the Penalty abated and the IRS enjoined from enforcing the Suspension [id. at p. 22],

The Shelter was tied to a program (the “Program”) sold by AdaCom, Inc., formerly AdaCon Advantage Company, Inc. (“AdaCon”) [id. at p. 4], The Program was marketed as a communication tool for speech-impaired and hearing-impaired individuals that allowed for direct communication with businesses [id]. Subscribing businesses essentially paid $2,500 to enroll in the Program, and the subscribers were told they could obtain a $5,000 “disabled access” tax credit [id].

AdaCon initially marketed the Shelter directly to small businesses, but then Ada-Con shifted its focus to enlisting tax preparers who could sell the Shelter to small businesses [Doc. No. 1-5, p. 8]. The tax preparers earned a commission ranging from $500 to $750 for each sale [id].

Plaintiff sold the Shelter from 2002 through 2004 and earned $101,459.00 in commissions on her sales [id].

In 2006, the United States tax court held that the Program did not qualify for the disabled access tax credit and that the Shelter was an abusive tax shelter [id].

On September 10, 2007, the IRS sent a “Notice of Penalty Charge” to Plaintiff, informing her that she had been assessed a $101,459.00 penalty for “promoting an abusive tax shelter” (the “Penalty”) [Doc. No. 1-8, p. 1]. The IRS had determined that Plaintiff made gross valuation overstatements in connection with her sales of the Shelter [Doc. No. 1-5, pp. 4-6]. The notice informed Plaintiff that she could challenge the Penalty by paying 15 % of the assessment and filing a claim for refund on a Form 6118 [Doc. No. 1-8, p. 1].

Plaintiff paid 15% of the Penalty and timely filed her refund claim with the IRS [Doc. No. 1-9, p. 1].

In January of 2009, the IRS notified Plaintiff that she would likely be suspended from the e-file program for one year because of the Penalty that had been assessed against her [Doc. No. 1, p. 11].

On October 20, 2009, Plaintiffs refund claim was denied, and in December of that year, she was notified that she would be suspended for 2 years due to the Penalty [id. at p. 12], The suspension began on April 16, 2009 [id. at pp. 12-13].

After Plaintiff exhausted her appeals with the IRS, she filed this action on May 20, 2011 [id. at p. 13]. Count I seeks abatement of the Penalty [id. at p. 15-16]. In Count II, Plaintiff alleges she is entitled to a refund of the 15% portion of the Penalty that she has paid [id. at pp. 16-17]. Counts III and IV respectively seek to enjoin the IRS from enforcing the Suspension [id. at pp. 18-19]. In Count V, Plaintiff asks for costs and fees [id. at p. 20-21]. And in Count VI, she demands a jury trial [id at 21].

Defendant now moves to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) [Doc. No. 4-1, p. 1]. Defendant’s main argument is that this Court lacks jurisdiction because Plaintiff (1) filed this action late and (2) failed to pay enough of her penalty.

LEGAL STANDARDS

I. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1)

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), a court must dismiss a claim over [1303]*1303which it lacks jurisdiction. “A Rule 12(b)(1) motion supports two forms of challenges to subject matter jurisdiction — a facial attack and a factual attack.” Am. Ins. Co. v. Evercare Co., 699 F.Supp.2d 1355, 1358 (N.D.Ga.2010). When adjudicating a facial attack, “the Court presumes the facts in the Complaint to be true and determines whether those facts sufficiently allege a basis of jurisdiction.” In this case, Defendant has launched a facial attack, arguing that the facts in the Complaint show that this Court lacks jurisdiction.

II. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)

Under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint may be dismissed if the facts as pled do not state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1950, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (explaining “only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss”); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 561-62, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (retiring the prior standard, which allowed a claim to proceed unless it appeared “beyond doubt” the plaintiff could not prove a set of facts that stated a claim). In Iqbal, the Supreme Court reiterated that although Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does not require detailed factual allegations, it does demand “more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.

In Twombly, the Supreme Court emphasized that a complaint “requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Factual allegations in a complaint need not be detailed but “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact).” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal citations and emphasis omitted).

DISCUSSION

Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss must be denied because Plaintiff timely filed this action and paid an appropriate portion of her penalty; therefore, this Court has jurisdiction over this matter, which could result in relief that would undercut the basis of the Penalty and Suspension. The Court will first discuss the jurisdictional issue, and then turn to the Counts I through VI.

I. This Court Has Jurisdiction Over Plaintiffs Action

This Court has jurisdiction over Plaintiffs action because she filed for a refund with the IRS, paid the requisite portion of her penalty, and timely filed her action. The district courts have original jurisdiction over “any civil action against the United States for the recovery of ...

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Bluebook (online)
854 F. Supp. 2d 1301, 2011 WL 7662515, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154857, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humphrey-v-united-states-gand-2011.