Norman v. United States

CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 31, 2018
Docket15-872
StatusPublished

This text of Norman v. United States (Norman 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
Norman v. United States, (uscfc 2018).

Opinion

In the United States Court of Federal Claims No. 15-872T (Filed:July 31, 2018) For Publication

************************************* * MINDY P. NORMAN, * Bank Secrecy Act, Trial, Civil penalty, * Failure to file, Willfulness, Taxpayer, Plaintiff, * Tax return, Maximum, Regulation, * Discretion, Supersede v. * * THE UNITED STATES, * * Defendant. * * *************************************

James O. Druker, Kase & Druker, Garden City, N.Y., for Plaintiff.

Jason Bergmann, United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, Washington, D.C., with whom was Blaine G. Saito, Trial Attorney, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

DAMICH, Senior Judge

On October 29, 2013, Plaintiff, Mindy P. Norman (“Ms. Norman”) was assessed a penalty under the Bank Secrecy Act by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) in the amount of $803,530.00. This penalty was assessed for a willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account (“FBAR”) in connection to a Swiss bank account she had in 2007. On January 21, 2014, Ms. Norman contested the assessment with the IRS, and on July 6, 2015, the IRS office of appeals affirmed the penalty, finding that Ms. Norman willfully failed to file an FBAR.

Ms. Norman paid the penalty in full, then filed the instant Complaint in this Court on August 13, 2015. On February 10, 2016, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) Rules of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”), which was denied by Senior Judge Merow in a reported Opinion on April 11, 2016. On April 21, 2016, Defendant filed its Answer to the Complaint, and discovery began in June 2016 and proceeded for a period of nine months, concluding on March 10, 2017.

On January 11, 2017, the case was reassigned to this Court. On November 9, 2017, Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to RCFC 56, and Plaintiff responded

1 on February 7, 2018. This Court denied Defendant’s motion for summary judgment,1 holding that a determination of willfulness is fact specific, and depends upon circumstances and nuances. See Status Conf. Tr. 4:15-21.

The requirement to file an FBAR is found in 31 U.S.C. § 5314 (“§ 5314”). In order to determine whether Ms. Norman’s violation of § 5314 was “willful,” the Court scheduled a one day trial for May 10, 2018, to hear the testimony and observe the demeanor of two witnesses: Ms. Norman and one of her accountants, Barry Kay. Status Conf. Tr. 17:24-19:8. The three hour trial was held in Brooklyn, NY, with one witness, Ms. Norman.2

After trial, Plaintiff filed a letter on May 21, 2018, with a recently decided case, United States v. Colliot, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83159 (W.D. Tex. 2018) (“Colliot”). The Court ordered Defendant to respond and comment on Colliot, and Defendant timely filed its response. Plaintiff requested leave to file a reply, and the Court denied this request by an Order on June 5, 2018. Plaintiff sent its reply to the Court in the form of a letter on June 11, 2018. This document was not added to the record, as it was sent in direct contravention of the Court’s Order of June 5, 2018.

After considering the documents, hearing Ms. Norman’s testimony, and observing her demeanor, the Court finds that Plaintiff Mindy P. Norman willfully failed to file an FBAR for 2007 in violation of § 5314, and that she was properly assessed a penalty in the amount of 50 percent of the balance of her unreported foreign account.

I. Statutory Framework

A. Willful and Non-Willful Penalties Under the Bank Secrecy Act

In 1970, Congress enacted the Bank Secrecy Act, Pub. L. No. 91-508, 84 Stat. 1114, as a response to “serious and widespread use of foreign financial facilities located in secrecy jurisdictions for the purpose of violating American law.” H.R. Rep. No. 91-975 (1970) reprinted in 1970 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4394, 4395. Congress authorized the Treasury Secretary to prescribe regulations which would implement the Bank Secrecy Act. 31 U.S.C. § 5314(b). The Treasury Secretary then required citizens with an interest in or control over one or more foreign financial accounts with value above $10,000 at any time during that calendar year, to file an FBAR before June 30 of the following year. See § 5314(b); 31 C.F.R. § 103.27(c). To enforce this regulation, the IRS3 may assess a “civil money penalty on any person who violates, or causes any violation of, any provision of § 5314,” not to exceed $10,000. 31 U.S.C. § 5321(a)(5)(A).

Specific to the case at hand, for willful violations, § 5321(a)(5)(C) mandates that the

1 With the Court’s permission, Defendant filed its reply brief after the Court denied Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. See generally, Def.’s Reply, ECF No. 33. 2 Mr. Kay, the other scheduled witness, did not appear to testify. 3 This power to assess penalties was allocated to the Treasury Secretary by statute, but delegated to the IRS by 31 C.F.R. 103.56(g). This regulation was then reorganized to a new chapter in 2011. See 31 C.F.R. §§ 1010.350(a), 1010.306(c). 2 maximum penalty “shall be increased to the greater of [] $100,000, or [] 50 percent of the amount determined under subparagraph (D) . . . .” Id. This amount, for a “violation involving a failure to report the existence of an account,” is “the balance in the account at the time of the violation.” 31 U.S.C § 5321(a)(5)(D)(ii). In this case, Ms. Norman was penalized at 50 percent of her account’s balance.

B. Standard for Willfulness Under the Bank Secrecy Act

The term “willful” is not defined under the statute. See generally, 31 U.S.C. § 5321. However, the Bank Secrecy Act specifically defines penalties under § 5321 as “civil money penalties.” § 5321(a)(5)(A). Where, as here, “willfulness is a condition for civil liability,” it is “generally taken [] to cover not only knowing violations of a standard, but reckless ones as well.” Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 57 (2007) (citing McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co., 486 U.S. 128, 133), quoted in United States v. Williams, 489 Fed. App’x. 655, 658 (4th Cir. 2012). “While the term recklessness is not self-defining, the common law has generally understood it in the sphere of civil liability as conduct violating an objective standard: action entailing an unjustifiably high risk of harm that is either known or so obvious that it should be known.” Safeco, 551 U.S. at 68 (internal quotation omitted).

Specific to FBAR cases, willfulness in the context of violations of § 5321 “may be proven ‘through inference from conduct meant to conceal or mislead sources of income or other financial information,’ and it ‘can be inferred from a conscious effort to avoid learning about reporting requirements.” Williams, 489 Fed. App’x at 658 (quoting United States v. Sturman,

Related

United States v. Doherty
233 F.3d 1275 (Eleventh Circuit, 2000)
Helvering v. Grinnell
294 U.S. 153 (Supreme Court, 1935)
United States v. Larionoff
431 U.S. 864 (Supreme Court, 1977)
McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co.
486 U.S. 128 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Burr
551 U.S. 47 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Winnie Greer v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue
595 F.3d 338 (Sixth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Bohanec
263 F. Supp. 3d 881 (C.D. California, 2016)

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