Pennoni v. United States

86 Fed. Cl. 351, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 46, 103 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1057, 2009 WL 522905
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedFebruary 26, 2009
DocketNo. 06-861T
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 86 Fed. Cl. 351 (Pennoni 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
Pennoni v. United States, 86 Fed. Cl. 351, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 46, 103 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1057, 2009 WL 522905 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

FIRESTONE, Judge.

Pending before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment by the United States (“government” or “defendant”) and the plaintiff, Lawrence D. Pennoni (“plaintiff’), pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). In this action, the plaintiff seeks to recover sums which he agrees were erroneously refunded to him by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) but which he claims were then “illegally exacted” by the IRS through levies on his bank account and wages. The plaintiff claims that the IRS was required to follow the procedures for collecting an erroneous non-rebate refund and could not rely on its tax collection methods of recovery.1 On this ground, the plaintiff claims that the government must repay him the amount of the erroneous refund together with the penalties and interest taken by the government when it levied his account and wages. The plaintiff asserts that the court has jurisdiction to hear his case under an “illegal exaction” theory. In Pennoni v. United States, 79 Fed.Cl. 552, [354]*354561-62 (2007), this court agreed with the plaintiff that the court had jurisdiction over the plaintiffs ease under an “illegal exaction” theory and denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that the plaintiff had alleged sufficient facts to claim that his 1998 tax liability had been extinguished and that the erroneous refund did not give rise to a tax owed. Pennoni, 79 Fed.Cl. at 558-60. As a result, the court held that the plaintiff could bring suit in this court under an “illegal exaction” theory without having to first file an administrative refund claim under 26 U.S.C. § 7422(a) (2000). Pennoni, 79 Fed.Cl. at 556-60.

The pending cross-motions were filed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Co. (“Clintwood Elkhorn”), — U.S. —, 128 S.Ct. 1511, 170 L.Ed.2d 392 (2008), in which the Supreme Court addressed the scope of the refund claim requirement under section 7422.2 The government contends that, in Clintwood Elkhorn, the Supreme Court clarified that section 7422 extends to claims for “any sum” alleged to have been wrongfully assessed or collected under the internal revenue laws and that the plaintiffs claim must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the grounds that the plaintiff has failed to meet the prerequisites of section 7422. The plaintiff argues in response that Clintwood Elkhorn applied only to taxpayers seeking refunds relating to their taxes and that because in this case the plaintiff alleges that the IRS illegally exacted a non-tax debt, the plaintiffs claim is not subject to the requirements of section 7422. In the alternative, the plaintiff argues that he has satisfied the prerequisites of section 7422 by filing an informal refund claim that was never formally rejected by the IRS. For the reasons discussed below, the government’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED, and the plaintiffs cross-motion is DENIED.

BACKGROUND

The following background facts are undisputed unless otherwise noted. The plaintiff is an attorney who has practiced in the areas of tax, international tax, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. Def.’s Proposed Findings of Uncontroverted Fact (“DPFUF”) ¶ 1. In the 1998 tax year, the plaintiff received $247,072.02 in income, from which $75,000.00 was withheld to satisfy his federal income tax liabilities. DPFUF ¶¶2-4. The plaintiff was granted an extension of time to August 15,1999 to file his federal income tax return. Id. at ¶ 5. The plaintiff did not file a 1998 federal income tax return on or before August 15, 1999. Id. at ¶6. On February 16, 2001, the IRS sent the plaintiff a letter entitled “Proposed Individual Income Tax Assessment,” in which the IRS calculated the plaintiffs individual income tax liability, including penalties and interest, for 1998 and indicated a balance due in the amount of $17,764.53, to be assessed if he did not respond within thirty days. Id. at ¶¶7-11; Syverson Decl. Ex. 2. The letter advised the plaintiff that one of the responses available to him was to submit a Form 1040, Individual Federal Income Tax Return, for 1998 within the thirty-day period. DPFUF ¶ 11. More than thirty days later, on April 18, 2001, the IRS received a Form 1040 for 1998 from the plaintiff, in which he claimed he was owed a refund of $3,035.33 after a withholding credit of $75,000.00 was applied. Id. at ¶¶ 12-13.

On June 1, 2001, the IRS sent the plaintiff a Notice of Deficiency for his 1998 federal individual income tax year. Id. at ¶ 14. In the Notice of Deficiency, the IRS determined that the plaintiff had a tax deficiency of $86,316.00 and owed penalties totaling $3,982.79. Id. at ¶ 15; see also id. at 10. The plaintiff filed a petition with the United States Tax Court on July 19, 2001, challenging the IRS’s determination of his 1998 tax liability. Id. at ¶¶ 16-17. After the petition was filed, the plaintiff worked with Houston IRS Appeals Officer Dennis Quinn to negotiate a settlement. DPFUF ¶¶21, 64; Pl.’s Resp. to DPFUF ¶ 21. On or about February 14, 2002, the plaintiff and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue entered into a settlement stipulation and draft decision concerning the plaintiff’s petition. DPFUF ¶¶ 22, 24. The draft decision established a statutory deficiency of $72,199.00 for the [355]*355plaintiffs 1998 federal income tax year and provided that, after the application of a $75,000.00 withholding credit, the plaintiff had made an overpayment of his federal income tax liability for 1998 of $2,801.00. Id. at ¶¶ 25-26. On February 15, 2002, the Tax Court docketed the settlement stipulation and entered the draft decision without alteration (“the Tax Court decision”). Id. at ¶¶ 23, 29.

The IRS Certificate of Assessments, Payments, and Other Specified Matters (“Certificate”) regarding the plaintiffs 1998 federal individual income taxes indicates that, on September 11, 2002, the plaintiff was assessed $72,960.00 in income tax for the 1998 tax year, DPFUF ¶ 30; Syverson Deck Ex. 1 at 4, which was slightly more than the amount of the tax liability established in the Tax Court proceeding. Cf. DPFUF ¶25. However, on October 14, 2002, the IRS issued the plaintiff an erroneous refund check in the amount of $80,166.57.3 DPFUF ¶ 31-32. It is not disputed that the plaintiff received and negotiated the check. Pl.’s Resp. to DPFUF ¶ 32. It is also not disputed that the $80,166.57 erroneous refund was unrelated to a redetermination of the plaintiffs income tax liability for 1998 by the IRS. Id. at ¶ 33. Nor is it disputed that the IRS treated the erroneous refund as creating a balance due in the plaintiffs account for his 1998 individual income tax year in the amount of $81,637.64. Id. at ¶ 34.

The IRS did not issue any notice of deficiency or assessment concerning the erroneous refund. Pl.’s Proposed Findings of Un-controverted Fact (“PPFUF”) ¶ 5. However, the IRS did send the plaintiff a “Notice of Balance Due” on November 25, 2002 and a “Statutory Notice of Intent to Levy” (“Notice of Intent to Levy”) on December 30, 2002. DPFUF ¶¶ 35-36; Syverson Deck Ex. 1 at 9. The Notice of Intent to Levy stated, inter alia,

Our records indicate that you haven’t paid the amount you owe. The law requires that you

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Bluebook (online)
86 Fed. Cl. 351, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 46, 103 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1057, 2009 WL 522905, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennoni-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.