In re Parrish

583 B.R. 873
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedApril 6, 2018
DocketCASE NO. 17–02341–5–SWH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 583 B.R. 873 (In re Parrish) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Parrish, 583 B.R. 873 (N.C. 2018).

Opinion

Stephani W. Humrickhouse, United States Bankruptcy Judge

The issue before the court is whether the "individual shared responsibility payment" (the "ISRP") imposed for failure to obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, 26 U.S.C. § 5000 (the "ACA"), is a tax or a penalty for purposes of 11 U.S.C. § 507(a). A hearing took place *875in Raleigh, North Carolina on February 22, 2018.

BACKGROUND

Angela Boykin Parrish filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on May 10, 2017. On her 2016 federal tax return, Ms. Parrish indicated that she owed an ISRP of $664.00, arising from her failure to obtain health insurance as required by the ACA. Based on the 2016 tax return, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") assessed Ms. Parrish in the amount of $664.00, and filed a proof of claim in that amount. Claim No. 1-1. The claim indicates that it is for a tax or penalty owed to the government entitled to priority under 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(8). Claim No. 1-1 at 3, ¶ 12. An attachment to the claim provides that the "Kind of Tax" is "Excise." Id. at 4.

On September 26, 2017, Ms. Parrish filed an objection to the claim filed by the IRS, Dkt. 13, which was amended on October 3, 2017, Dkt. 15. Ms. Parrish contends that the ISRP is not an excise tax, but is instead a penalty that is not entitled to priority under 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(8). The IRS filed a response on December 4, 2017, Dkt. 27, setting forth the legal basis for its position that the ISRP is a tax. Ms. Parrish submitted a brief on January 21, 2018, Dkt. 32, and a submission in supplemental support on February 21, 2018, Dkt. 36.

DISCUSSION

Section 507(a)(8) provides for priority treatment of "allowed unsecured claims of governmental units, only to the extent such claims are for-... (E) an excise tax ...; or (G) a penalty related to a claim of a kind specified in this paragraph and in compensation for actual pecuniary loss." 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8). The parties agree that the ISRP is not a penalty as described by (G), but the IRS maintains that the ISRP is either an income tax or an excise tax, while Ms. Parrish contends that it is a penalty that is not entitled to any priority under the Bankruptcy Code. The IRS has the burden of proof to establish that its claim is entitled to priority. In re Bradford , 534 B.R. 839, 842 (Bankr. M.D. Ga. 2015) (citing In re Firearms Imp. & Exp. Corp. v. United Capitol Ins. Co. (In re Firearms Imp. & Exp. Corp.), 131 B.R. 1009, 1015 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 1991).

The ACA established an "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to maintain "minimum essential" health insurance coverage. 26 U.S.C. § 5000A(a).1 The failure to obtain that insurance results in the ISRP, which is called a "penalty" within the statute. 26 U.S.C. § 5000A(b).2 However, the parties agree that the label given to an exaction by Congress is not controlling for purposes of determining bankruptcy classification. Instead, courts must look to how that exaction functions. See United States v. Reorganized CF & I Fabricators of Utah, Inc. , 518 U.S. 213, 116 S.Ct. 2106, 135 L.Ed.2d 506 (1996) ("On a number of occasions, this Court considered whether a particular exaction, whether or not called a "tax" in the statute *876creating it, was a tax for purposes of [bankruptcy priority], and in every one of those cases the Court looked behind the label placed on the exaction and rested its answer directly on the operation of the provision using the term in question.").

The IRS maintains that the Supreme Court of the United States, in a binding determination, has already performed a functional analysis and concluded that the ISRP is a tax. Indeed, the Court considered the ISRP in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius , 567 U.S. 519, 132 S.Ct. 2566, 183 L.Ed.2d 450 (2012), reviewing a constitutional challenge to the ACA as a whole and the ISRP in particular. In Sebelius , the Court described the ISRP as follows:

Beginning in 2014, those who do not comply with the mandate must make a "[s]hared responsibility payment" to the Federal Government. § 5000A(b)(1). That payment, which the Act describes as a "penalty," is calculated as a percentage of household income, subject to a floor based on a specified dollar amount and a ceiling based on the average annual premium the individual would have to pay for qualifying private health insurance. § 5000A(c). In 2016, for example, the penalty will be 2.5 percent of an individual's household income, but no less than $695 and no more than the average yearly premium for insurance that covers 60 percent of the cost of 10 specified services (e.g., prescription drugs and hospitalization). Ibid.

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Bluebook (online)
583 B.R. 873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-parrish-nceb-2018.