Kaestner v. Schmidt

329 F. Supp. 1082, 28 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5079, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13408
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedMay 6, 1971
DocketNo. 71-70
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 329 F. Supp. 1082 (Kaestner v. Schmidt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaestner v. Schmidt, 329 F. Supp. 1082, 28 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5079, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13408 (C.D. Cal. 1971).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING AND DENYING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

DAVID W. WILLIAMS, District Judge.

In this action, plaintiff seeks to enjoin the District Director of Internal Revenue for the Los Angeles District from collecting income taxes assessed against her for the years 1959, 1960 and 1961. Plaintiff asserts that the notices of deficiency sent to her for each of these years did not comply with statutory requirements and that any subsequent assessment is therefore invalid and enjoinable under section 6218 of the Internal Revenue Code. Plaintiff also asserts that the Internal Revenue Service represented to her that it would refrain from attempting to collect taxes for these years, that plaintiff relied on these representations, and that therefore the defendant should be estopped from attempting to collect the taxes.

In an Order entered February 1, 1971, this Court denied plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction. The Government subsequently filed the present motion for summary judgment. Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a motion for summary judgment may be granted only if “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and * * * the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” All inferences of fact from the proof offered by the parties must be drawn against the movant and in favor of the party oppos[1084]*1084ing the motion. United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962). Because the merit of defendant’s motion for summary judgment differs with respect to the various issues raised by plaintiff in this action, this Court shall consider the propriety of the motion with respect to each of these issues separately.

STATUTORY GROUNDS

Plaintiff asserts that the IRS must be enjoined from attempting to collect any taxes from her because it failed to give her adequate notice of its assessment of deficiency. Section 6213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits the Government from assessing or prosecuting an alleged tax deficiency unless proper notice as provided in section 6212 has been first given to the taxpayer and authorizes a taxpayer who has not received such notice to institute injunction proceedings in the District Court:

“ * * * No assessment of a deficiency in respect of any tax imposed * * * and no levy or proceeding in Court for its collection shall be made, begun, or prosecuted , until such notice has been mailed to the taxpayer * *. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 7421(a), the making of such assessment or the beginning of such proceeding or levy during the time such prohibition is in force may be enjoined by a proceeding in the proper court.” 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a).

In the present action plaintiff asserts that the defendant failed to observe one or more of the notice procedures set forth in section 6212 with respect to each notice of deficiency sent to her.

The 1961 return

Plaintiff asserts that the notice of deficiency for the taxable year 1961 was defective because not in compliance with section 6212 (a)’s provision that the Secretary “is authorized to send notice of such deficiency to the taxpayer by certified mail or registered mail.”

There are no factual issues in dispute with regard to this notice of deficiency. Both parties agree that the notice was mailed to plaintiff at her Los Angeles address while she still lived there. Both parties furthermore agree that, while the notice of deficiency was sent to her by certified or registered mail, a supplementary form, detailing the reasons for the Government’s determination of deficiency and referred to in the orginal notice, was sent to plaintiff in a separate mailing unregistered and uncertified.

The issue disputed by the parties is one of law. Plaintiff contends that the failure to send the supplementary report via registered mail violates the notice requirements of section 6212(a) and the defendant disagrees. As this Court held in its Order Denying Preliminary Injunction, although section 6212(a) states that the notice of deficiency may be sent by registered mail, it does not require that any other communication, such as the detailed report sent to plaintiff, be sent by registered mail. Therefore, with respect to the issue of its compliance with statutory requirements in the notice of deficiency sent to plaintiff for 1961, the defendant is entitled to summary judgment.

The 1960 return

Plaintiff contends that the notice of deficiency sent to her for the year 1960 was defective because mailed to the wrong address. Section 6212(b) (1) requires that notice of deficiency be “mailed to the taxpayer at his last known address.” The IRS mailed its notice of deficiency as to the taxable year 1960 to plaintiff at her Los Angeles address on February 11, 1966. On the previous day, February 10, 1966, her divorce having become final, plaintiff had moved to Wisconsin. In her complaint, plaintiff alleges that the IRS “had knowledge of the fact that plaintiff and her then husband had separated, were living apart, had divorced, and plaintiff had moved to Wisconsin.” (Complaint, page 5, ¶ 14.) Assuming, over the Government’s denial, that plaintiff’s allegation is true, it does not create a statutory violation. Even if at the time of the mailing the IRS knew [1085]*1085plaintiff had moved to Wisconsin, it did not violate the statute if it did not know plaintiff’s mailing address in Wisconsin. Neither in her complaint nor in her two subsequent affidavits has plaintiff ever asserted that the IRS did know her Wisconsin address on the date it sent her the notice of deficiency. Despite vague suggestions to the contrary, plaintiff has not actually contested the Government’s assertion that on February 11, 1966, plaintiff’s Los Angeles address was her last known address. Consequently, the Government is entitled to summary judgment with respect to the issue of its compliance with section 6212 in its notice of deficiency for the taxable year 1960.

The 1959 return

Plaintiff claims two statutory violations with respect to the notice of deficiency sent to her for the year 1959. She alleges that the notice violated section 6212(b) (2) because the 1959 return was a joint return and no notice of deficiency was sent to her ex-husband, and also, that the notice violated section 6212(b) (1) because it was not sent to her last known address.

Section 6212(b) (2) provides that “in case of a joint income tax return * * * if the Secretary or his delegate has been notified by either spouse that separate residences have been established, then, * * * a duplicate original of the joint notice shall be sent by certified mail or registered mail to each spouse at his last known address.” In order to establish a violation of this section, plaintiff must establish that the 1959 return filed by her former husband was a joint return. However, in a suit brought by plaintiff’s ex-husband in the Tax Court, the Tax Court found that the 1959 return was a separate return.

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329 F. Supp. 1082, 28 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5079, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaestner-v-schmidt-cacd-1971.