Pallister v. United States

182 F. Supp. 720, 5 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1260, 1960 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4433
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 4, 1960
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 182 F. Supp. 720 (Pallister v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pallister v. United States, 182 F. Supp. 720, 5 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1260, 1960 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4433 (S.D.N.Y. 1960).

Opinion

PALMIERI, District Judge.

The plaintiff, as administratrix of the estate of a deceased transferee, seeks a refund for interest paid on the decedent’s transferee tax liability. The transferee’s liability was assessed and paid pursuant to Int.Rev.Code of 1954 § 6901, 26 U.S. C.A. § 6901, which provides a summary method of collecting the amount of “the liability, at law or in equity, of a transferee of property * * * of a taxpayer * * See Phillips v. Commissioner, 1931, 283 U.S. 589, 594, 51 S.Ct. 608, 75 L.Ed. 1289; cf. Rowen v. Commissioner, 2 Cir., 1954, 215 F.2d 641.

There are no disputed issues of fact and no matters outside the pleadings to be considered. It is conceded that the transferor’s tax deficiency exceeds the value of the transferred assets and, at the hearing on the motion, counsel for the Government, for purposes of this motion, stated that no question was raised as to the good faith of the transferee. The plaintiff admits liability for interest from the date of notice and demand.1 The sole question presented is whether, in addition to payment of an amount equal to the full value of the transferred assets, and interest thereon from the date of notice and demand, the transferee must also pay interest from the date the assets were transferred.

In view of the fact that the Government, for purposes of this motion, does not dispute the transferee’s good faith, the plaintiff contends that there should be no liability for interest on the transferred assets prior to notice and demand for payment. The plaintiff relies on Voss v. Wiseman, 10 Cir., 1956, 234 F.2d 237, a case which is virtually indistinguishable from the situation presented here. In that case, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that, prior to the date of notice and demand, a transferee can become liable for interest which would have been chargeable against the transferor only in the event and to the extent that the value of the transferred assets exceeds the amount of the principal of the delinquent tax due from the transferor.

The Government contends that Voss v. Wiseman, supra, carves out an improper exception to the general rule regarding interest in transferee liability cases. See Buzard v. Helvering, 1935, 64 App. D.C. 268, 77 F.2d 391; United States v. Fisher, D.C.E.D.Mich.1944, 57 F.Supp. 410, 415; Henry Cappellini, 16 B.T.A. 802 (1929); Marold, Transferee Liability, 13 N.Y.U. Institute on Federal Taxation, 1073, 1090 (1955); cf. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Breyer, 3 Cir., 1945, 151 F.2d 267; Webster v. Maloney, D.C.D.N.J.1953, 114 F.Supp. 726, affirmed, Webster v. Gideon, 3 Cir., 1954, 213 F.2d 152; Hoppers Co., 1943, 3 T.C. 62, acq., 1946-1 Cum.Bull. 3 (transferee may deduct from his income any interest paid which accrued after the date of transfer — he may not deduct interest on the transferor’s tax deficiency accruing prior to the date of transfer). Apparently, the Government takes small comfort in the fact that the exception declared in the Tenth Circuit is limited to a clearly and narrowly defined class of transferees, for the issue presented here has also been presented for decision to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama having followed the holding in Voss v. Wiseman, supra. See Sims v. Patterson, D.C.N.D.Ala.1959, 183 F.Supp. 202.

The transferee provision of the Internal Revenue Code does not establish [722]*722the transferee’s liability for taxes owed by the transferor. It merely provides a summary procedure for enforcing an existing liability. The liability, as distinguished from the method of collection, is not based upon a statutory obligation but arises under the legal principle which enables a creditor to set aside a transfer of property made in fraud of his interest. See Phillips v. Commissioner, supra; Samuel Wilcox, 1951, 16 T.C. 572, 576; H.R.Rep. No. 356, 69th Cong., 1st Sess. 42-45 (1926); Latham, Liability of Transferees Under the Revenue Act of 1926, 22 Ill.L.Rev. 233, 253-58 (1927).

The assessment against the transferee which underlies this action occurred after the enactment of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 although the trans-feror’s delinquency and the date of transfer occurred during the period the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 was in effect. The pertinent provisions of the presently applicable section2 are substantially the same as those first inserted into the tax law by the Revenue Act of 1926, 44 Stat. 61,3 What little legislative history there is appears in the Committee Reports on the 1926 enactment. The Report of the Conference Committee, H.R.Rep. No. 356, supra, states:

“[T]he liability of the taxpayer * * * is fixed as of the time of the transfer of the assets. No further interest subsequently accrues upon such liability as assumed by the transferee except [interest at the rate of 1 percent a month] for failure to pay upon notice and demand * * * and interest at 6 per cent a year for reimbursing the Government at the usual rate for loss of the use of the money due it:” 4

The significant factor in evaluating this statement is that under the Revenue Act of 1926, interest upon tax deficiencies was payable at the rate of 1 per cent a month — or 12 per cent a year, rather than at the 6 per cent rate now applicable. Compare Revenue Act of 1926, § 276(a) with Int.Rev.Code of 1939, § 294 (a) (b), 26 U.S.C.A. § 294(a, b), and Int/ Rev.Code of 1954, § 6601(a). Therefore,' the statement in the Conference Committee Report as to a 6 per cent rate for the period between the date of transfer and the date of notice and demand does not refer to a statutory interest obligation but to the principle of general law which the Committee assumed would govern the application of the provision. Cf. Billings v. United States, 1913, 232 U.S. 261, 284, 34 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed. 596; Daniel v. United States, D.C.N.D.Ala. 1960, 179 F.Supp. 679. See also Rowen v. Commissioner, supra, 68 Harv.L.Rev. 1280 (1955). And see S.Rep. No. 52, [723]*72369th Cong., 1st Sess. 28-30 (1926).-Most of the cases dealing with the question are consistent with this congressional understanding as to the source of the transferee’s obligation to pay interest accruing after the date of transfer and prior to the date of notice and demand. E. g., Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Breyer, supra.

The Government appears to recognize that the interest sought to be imposed is not founded upon a statutory obligation but upon the equitable requirement that interest be paid for the use of money. Accordingly, the defendant contends that policy and precedent require that the court’s discretion to grant or withhold interest be exercised in the Government’s favor. See Royal Indemnity Co. v. United States, 1941, 313 U.S. 289, 296, 61 S. Ct. 995, 85 L.Ed. 1361; cf. Board of Commissioners of Jackson County, Kan. v.

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182 F. Supp. 720, 5 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1260, 1960 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4433, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pallister-v-united-states-nysd-1960.