In re Baker

172 B.R. 966, 74 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5604, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10634, 1994 WL 589559
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJuly 19, 1994
DocketCiv. No. 94-6162-HO
StatusPublished

This text of 172 B.R. 966 (In re Baker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Baker, 172 B.R. 966, 74 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5604, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10634, 1994 WL 589559 (D. Or. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER

HOGAN, District Judge.

This is a bankruptcy appeal challenging Bankruptcy Judge Higdon’s November 30, 1993 order overruling the debtors’ objection to the claim of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In late 1978 or early 1979, the debtors hired an attorney, Maxwell Berg, who specialized in tax planning. Mr. Berg developed a tax shelter investment plan which required his clients to invest in sham master recording limited partnerships. He then filed fraudulent returns for his clients, including the debtors, and obtained refunds for previous tax years. The IRS learned of the fraudulent activity and sent debtors a large tax deficiency bill for the years 1975-1980. Mr. Berg was indicted and fled the country. The debtors joined a large group of taxpayers who filed petitions in tax court. They were represented by attorneys Cole and Moore. The debtors alleged in their petition in tax court that they believed “that the assessment and collection of the claimed deficiencies for 1975, 1976, 1977, and 1978 are barred by the applicable statute of limitations.” (Appellee’s Excerpts of Record, Exhibit F). The debtors and the IRS reached an agreement to resolve the dispute. One of the terms of the agreement was that the debtors would receive a credit for the refund checks which they claimed they never received, but rather were cashed by Mr. Berg. The United States Tax Court entered a decision requiring the debtors to pay certain deficiency amounts for the years 1977-1980 based on the parties agreement and stipulation. (Id., Exhibit G). The stipulation shows a zero tax liability for tax years 1975 and 1976. The debtors argue that they believed this zero tax liability for 1975 and 1976 meant that the statute of limitations applied to those years, and that, in effect, their “credit” should have applied to subsequent years.

DISCUSSION

The issue is whether the United States Bankruptcy Court has the authority to set aside the stipulated Tax Court decision under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(6), in contravention to 11 U.S.C. § 505(a)(2)(A). (Debtors’ Brief). Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(6) provides, in relevant part:

(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered Evidence; Fraud, etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may reheve a party ... from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: ... (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.

This is an extraordinary procedure that permits the court which rendered the judgment to grant relief upon a showing of good cause and upon terms that are just. Brown v. McCormick, 608 F.2d 410, 413 (10th Cir. 1979); Oliver v. Monsanto Co., 56 F.R.D. 370, 372 (S.D.Tex.1972), aff'd 487 F.2d 514 (5th Cir.1973). This rule should not be applied where a party seeking reconsideration has ignored normal legal recourse. United States v. Alpine Land and Reservoir Co., 984 F.2d 1047, 1049 (9th Cir.1993). The moving party must show that (1) there has been injury, and (2) that circumstances beyond the control of the moving party prevented timely action to protect their interest. United States v. Alpine Land and Reservoir Co., 984 F.2d 1047 (9th Cir.1993). This rule is not intended to enable litigants to avoid the consequences of a decision to settle which appears unfortunate in retrospect. Smith v. Widman Trucking & Excavating, 627 F.2d 792, 793 (7th Cir.1980).

11 U.S.C. § 505(a)(2)(A) provides that a bankruptcy court may not determine [969]*969“the amount or legality of a tax, fine, penalty, or addition to tax if such amount or legality was contested before and adjudicated by a judicial or administrative tribunal of competent jurisdiction....” If a claim of liability or non-liability relating to a particular tax year is litigated in Tax Court, a judgment on the merits is res judicata as to any subsequent proceeding involving the same claim and the same tax year. Russell v. U.S., 592 F.2d 1069, 1072 (9th Cir.1979) cert. den., 444 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 308, 62 L.Ed.2d 315 (1979). The parties and their privies are bound not only to matters offered to sustain or defeat a claim, but as to any other admissible matter which might have been argued. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591, 68 S.Ct. 715, 92 L.Ed. 898 (1948) (judgment ends ease which cannot be brought into litigation upon any ground whatever); see also Russell v. U.S., 592 F.2d at 1072 (Tax Court acquires jurisdiction to decide the entire gamut of possible issues that controlled determination of tax liability). A stipulated decision by the Tax Court is a final judgment on the merits. Matter of Donahue, 107 B.R. 146, 151 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Ohio 1989); U.S. v. Wynshaw, 516 F.Supp. 785, 788 (S.D.N.Y.1981).

The debtors argue that in order for section 505(a)(2)(A) to have prescriptive effect, there must be evidence that the debtors’ claim of statute of limitations was adjudicated, and there is no such evidence. They argue that the IRS improperly applied credits to tax years 1975 and 1976 without informing them or obtaining Tax Court authorization and led them to believe they would receive credits against the ultimate amount of tax liability determined by the Tax Court in its decision. They argue that the IRS should be estopped from seeking the full amount in the Tax Court decision plus interest and that they are not seeking to relitigate taxes, rather only to clarify their agreement. The IRS argues, in effect, that the statute of limitations was not to apply to tax years 1975 and 1976, or any other years at issue, and that they properly applied the correct credit to the earliest years in accordance with the parties’ agreement.

An IRS attorney negotiated a settlement with debtors’ attorneys Moore and Cole in the Tax Court action. (Appellee’s Excerpts of Record, Exhibit E). That settlement was reflected in a document titled “COUNSEL SETTLEMENT MEMORANDUM In re: Clayton and Sally Baker v. Commissioner” dated April 1, 1991. Id. This “Memorandum” is signed by the IRS attorney and an IRS paralegal, and not by debtors. Debtors claim they never saw this document and never agreed to its terms. This settlement memorandum indicates that debtors were to receive 50% of their cash investment in the master recording partnership as a credit against their deficiency, that this cash investment totalled $30,000 and that debtors would receive $15,000 as credit “in settlement of this case.” Id.

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Related

Commissioner v. Sunnen
333 U.S. 591 (Supreme Court, 1948)
Dolores J. Russell v. United States
592 F.2d 1069 (Ninth Circuit, 1979)
United States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir, Co.
984 F.2d 1047 (Ninth Circuit, 1993)
United States v. Wynshaw
516 F. Supp. 785 (S.D. New York, 1981)
Donahue v. United States (In Re Donahue)
107 B.R. 146 (S.D. Ohio, 1989)
Oliver v. Monsanto Co.
56 F.R.D. 370 (S.D. Texas, 1972)
Russell v. United States
444 U.S. 946 (Supreme Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
172 B.R. 966, 74 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5604, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10634, 1994 WL 589559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-baker-ord-1994.