J. Cardenas & Sons Farming, Inc. v. United States

88 Fed. Cl. 153, 104 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5323, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 265, 2009 WL 2053594
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 13, 2009
DocketNos. 07-350T, 07-351T
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 88 Fed. Cl. 153 (J. Cardenas & Sons Farming, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. Cardenas & Sons Farming, Inc. v. United States, 88 Fed. Cl. 153, 104 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5323, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 265, 2009 WL 2053594 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER AND OPINION

CHRISTINE O.C. MILLER, Judge.

This ease is before the court on defendant’s partial motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1) and for failure to state a claim under RCFC 12(b)(6). J. Cardenas & Sons Farming, Inc. (“Cardenas”), and Rio Vista Corporation (“Rio Vista”) (collectively “plaintiffs”) seek a refund of employment taxes paid pursuant to 26 U.S.C. (I.R.C.) § 6672 (2006), for agricultural employees (Form 943) for Cardenas for tax years 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000 and for Rio Vista for tax years 1993,1996,1997,1999, 2001-2003. Defendant moves to dismiss Rio Vista’s claim for tax year 1993 for failure to state a claim and to dismiss Cardenas’s claims for tax year 2000 and Rio Vista’s tax years 1997, 1999, 2001-2002 for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to failure to file timely claims. Argument is deemed unnecessary because the parties’ explanations are reducible to explication through charts.

FACTS

The following facts are drawn from plaintiffs’ complaint, the parties’ briefs, and the documents attached thereto.1

Plaintiffs claim that during the relevant tax years they made regular payments of payroll taxes through Wells Fargo Bank. In early 2004 plaintiffs first learned that some of the employees at Wells Fargo Bank diverted a portion of their tax payments to a source unsubstantiated by plaintiffs. Due to the alleged diversion of tax payments, plaintiffs contacted the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) inquiring whether they had any outstanding tax liability. Pis.’ Br. filed May 1, 2009, at 2. Although the record does not reveal what communications, if any, plaintiffs had with the IRS regarding their tax liability, plaintiffs, by Juan and Graciela Cardenas, signed on November 23, 2004, an installment agreement (Form 433-D) with the IRS stipulating to a “10 month installment agreement all inclusive, Rio Vista Inc 77-0332175 & J Cardenas & Sons Inc. The payments to be applied to the oldest periods first. Full payment due September 30, 2005. Seizure to follow if you default.” Pis.’ Br. filed May 1, 2009, at Ex. B (This information is listed under the box heading “Additional Conditions/Terms (To be completed by IRS.”)). Juan and Graciela Cardenas, owners of the farming company, were dismissed from these actions by Order entered on April 3, 2009.

The tax periods listed in the installment agreement are 1993, 1995-2001, and 2003, and the employer identifications numbers are 77-0332175 (Rio Vista as identified in Third Am. Compl. ¶ 18) and 77-0121198 (Cardenas as identified in Third Am. Compl. ¶ 2). The copy of the installment agreement submitted by plaintiffs was not signed by the IRS. The installment agreement contains two handwritten amendments, initialed by Juan and Graciela Cardenas, stipulating that the penalties are disputed.

Cardenas states that, as of 2004, its employment tax returns (Form 943) estimated the corporation’s liability for tax years 1993, [156]*1561995, 1998, 2000 as $219,967.00; Cardenas estimated that it had paid a total of $253,118.37 in employment taxes; and the IRS’s records reflect that Cardenas paid a total of $245,888.89. Similarly, Rio Vista’s tax returns (Form 943) calculated its total liability for tax years 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001-2003 as $782,276.59; corporate records estimated that it paid $744,776.48 in employment taxes; and the IRS recorded total payments as $456,769.55.

Plaintiffs assert that, pursuant to the installment agreement, they paid “at least $340,000” in tax liabilities, penalties, and interest between the periods of August 2004 and early 2009. Pis.’ Br. filed May 1, 2009, at 4, Ex. B at E27. Plaintiffs claim that they directed payments to be applied to the “tax for the earliest period,” not to penalties or interest. Id. at 4, Ex. C at E30 (a “sample” letter from Martin A. Schainbaum, Esq. (plaintiffs’ counsel of record), to the IRS). Plaintiffs maintain that they expected that any payments submitted without explicit instructions would be applied according to the terms of the installment agreement. !

Contrary to their expectations, the IRS unilaterally misapplied plaintiffs’ payments, thereby causing plaintiffs to incur deficiencies, penalties, and interest. It is plaintiffs’ position that the IRS’s erroneous application of plaintiffs’ payments, coupled with the “em-bezzlemenVdiversion of payments by [plaintiffs’ then-bookkeeping service and [] Wells Fargo Bank employee(s), agent(s), or representative(s)” absolve plaintiffs of their duty to pay all or some of the penalties and interest assessed against them. Pis.’ Br. filed May 1, 2009, at 4-5.

On or about September 10, 2006, Cardenas submitted a Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement (Form 843) seeking refunds in the amounts of $909.70, $4,857.50, $708.58, and $3,050.34 for tax years 1993, 1995, 1998, and 2000, respectively. Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 11-14; see also Decl. of Steven Pybrum, C.P.A., Mar. 1, 2008, ¶4 (date not on the forms but sworn to in declaration). On or about September 1, 2009, Rio Vista submitted Form 843 to the IRS seeking refund for tax periods 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2001-2003 in the amounts of $9.64, $9.64, $51.84, $1,529.20, $11,685.81, $4,853.32, and $3,784.21, respectively. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 27-33; see also Pybrum Deck ¶ 6 (date not on the forms but sworn to in declaration).

Defendant disputes much of the evidence that plaintiffs submit in support of their claims. According to defendant, the checks submitted by plaintiffs evidencing payment of tax liabilities “consist[] of only four checks” paid on behalf of Cardenas, but not Rio Vista. Def.’s Br. filed May 20, 2009, at 3 (citing Pis.’ Br. filed May 1, 2009, at Ex. 1). The checks do not indicate which “tax, period, or taxpayer the payment is for.” Id. at 3. The Declaration of Steven Pybrum, C.P.A., Mar. 1, 2008, ¶¶ 3, 5-6, defendant characterizes as merely providing unsupported assertions that the cheeks were paid on behalf of both parties and for the tax periods relevant to this litigation.2 The installment agreement, moreover, was executed only by Juan and Graciela Cardenas, not Rio Vista, and defendant also contends that plaintiffs have not provided any evidence supporting whether the IRS agreed to the terms of the installment payments.

Defendant shows that the checks issued by plaintiffs that are relevant to this litigation were applied by the IRS to the following taxpayer and tax year:

Plaintiff Check Number Check Date Check Amount Tax Year Applied

Cardenas 5524 2/22/2006 $8,000.00 1998

Cardenas 5567 3/21/2006 $8,000.00 1998

Cardenas 5650 4/24/2006 $8,000.00 1998

Cardenas 5733 5/23/2006 $8,000.00 1995

Def.’s Br. filed May 20, 2009, at 3-4. While not controverting the application of payments, plaintiffs argue that the IRS erroneously applied the payments to the incorrect taxpayer and tax year.

On June 4, 2007, plaintiffs filed Complaint No. 07-350T on behalf of plaintiff J. Cardenas & Sons Farming, Inc, and Complaint No. [157]*15707-351T naming Rio Vista Corporation as the sole plaintiff. Both complaints sought a refund/abatement of penalties for employment taxes assessed pursuant to I.R.C. § 6672, which imposes liability on “responsible person[s]” for failure to pay taxes on behalf of a corporate employer.

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88 Fed. Cl. 153, 104 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5323, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 265, 2009 WL 2053594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-cardenas-sons-farming-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.