Putnam v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Putnam)

503 B.R. 656
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedJanuary 14, 2014
DocketCASE NO. 10-09651-8-SWH ADVERSARY PROCEEDING; NO. 12-00273-8-SWH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 503 B.R. 656 (Putnam v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Putnam)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Putnam v. Internal Revenue Service (In re Putnam), 503 B.R. 656 (N.C. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICES’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Stephani W. Humrickhouse, United States Bankruptcy Judge

The matters before the court in this adversary proceeding are the cross-motions for summary judgment filed by Todd Perry Putnam (the “debtor”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). The debtor initiated this adversary proceeding on October 29, 2012, seeking a determination of whether his tax liability for the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 was extinguished by the discharge he received from this court on July 11, 2011. The IRS claims that the debtor’s tax liability for these years is nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii). Both parties moved for summary judgment. A hearing was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 13, 2013.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The parties are in agreement as to the facts. The debtor has filed three bankruptcy petitions, all under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. The debtor filed his first petition on May 3, 2004. (E.D.N.C. No. 04-01640-5-ATS) (“Case # 1”). The IRS was listed in the debtor’s Schedule “E” as a creditor holding an unsecured priority claim in an unknown amount. The debtor’s chapter 13 plan in Case # 1 was confirmed on July 27, 2004. On August 26, 2004, the debtor filed his tax returns for the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 (respectively, the “Tax Returns” and “Tax Years”). The IRS assessed the debtor’s liability for the Tax Years during Septem[658]*658ber and November of 2004. This first case was dismissed on March 2, 2005, without the debtor receiving a discharge.

On June 1, 2006, approximately one year and nine months after the debtor filed the Tax Returns and one year and three months after the dismissal of his first case, the debtor filed his second bankruptcy petition. (E.D.N.C. No. 06-00801-5-SWH) (Case #2). The IRS asserted an unsecured priority claim in the amount of $16,039.43 (Trustee’s Claim No. 13) and an unsecured general claim in the amount of $70,456.24 (Trustee’s Claim No. 27) in Case #2. The IRS’s priority claim was paid in full through the plan and it received $557.05 through the plan for its unsecured general claim. The debtor received a discharge in Case # 2 on September 9, 2010, and Case # 2 was closed on the same date. Both parties agree that the September 9, 2010, discharge did not discharge the debtor’s liability for the Tax Years.

On November 23, 2010, approximately two and a half months after Case # 2 was closed, the debtor filed his third bankruptcy petition. (E.D.N.C. No. 10-9651-8-SWH) (Case # 3). The IRS filed a proof of claim in Case #3 in the amount of $55,287.63, of which, $54,004.80 was an unsecured general claim attributable to the debtor’s liability for the Tax Years. The IRS was paid $2,383.13 through the plan on its unsecured general claim. The debt- or received a discharge in Case #3 on July 11, 2011.

The issue before the court is whether debtor’s tax liability for the Tax Years, resulting from the Tax Returns filed in August of 2004, was extinguished by the discharge the debtor received in Case # 3 on July 11, 2011. The IRS claims that the debt is not discharged because, pursuant to § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii), debt from a late-filed tax return is nondischargeable if the untimely return was filed within the two years preceding a bankruptcy petition, and, although the debtor filed Case # 3 on November 23, 2010, and the Tax Returns were filed on August 26, 2004, the two-year lookback period of § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii) was equitably tolled during the pendency of the bankruptcy cases. The IRS claims that because of the debtor’s sequential bankruptcy cases, during which it was prevented from collecting on the debt, there was not a full two-year period prior to the filing of Case # 3 where it was free to collect on the debt. Therefore, it argues, the debtor should not be entitled to enjoy the protection of § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii).

The debtor argues that the plain language of § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii) does not contain any tolling language and that when the date of the filing of Case #3 is viewed against the filing date of the Tax Returns, the two-year lookback period is satisfied, i.e., August 26, 2004, is more than two years prior to November 23, 2010. Additionally, the debtor argues that § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii) is not subject to equitable tolling because the two-year rule is not a limitations period, and further that changes under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (“BAPCPA”) indicate an intent on the part of Congress to exempt the two-year period of § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii) from tolling.

DISCUSSION

Section 523(a) of the Bankruptcy Code governs the dischargeability of certain individual debts, including, under § 523(a)(1), certain tax debts. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1). Section 523(a)(1)(B) provides:

(a) A discharge under section 727, 1141, 1228(a), 1228(b), or 1328(b) of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—
(1) for a tax or a customs duty ...
[659]*659(B) with respect to which a return ... if required—
(i) was not filed or given; or (n) was filed or given after the date on which such return, report, or notice was last due, under applicable law or under any extension, and after two years before the date of the filing of the petition....

11 U.S.C. § 528(a)(1)(B). Under this section, if a debtor never files a tax return for a given year, and one was required, the tax liability for that year is nondischargeable. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(l)(B)(i). Also, under this section, if a debtor files an untimely return within the two years preceding a bankruptcy petition, the debt associated with the untimely return is nondischargeable. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii). This so-called “two-year rule” excepts from discharge debt from late-filed tax returns regardless of when they were due, if the returns were filed within the two years preceding a bankruptcy petition. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii).

The IRS argues that this two-year period is suspended during the pendency of a bankruptcy proceeding because the automatic stay prevents it from collecting on the debt during that period. Therefore, it contends that the sequential chapter 13 filings resulted in less than two years of time during which it could have collected its debt. Although there is some dispute regarding whether the IRS was in fact prevented from collecting taxes during Case # 1, even if the two-year lookback period of § 523(a)(l)(B)(ii) is only tolled during Case # 2, the applicable period had not expired at the time of the filing of Case #3.1 Further, there is no dispute that the debtor was required to file tax returns for the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 and that they were untimely filed on August 26, 2004.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
503 B.R. 656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/putnam-v-internal-revenue-service-in-re-putnam-nceb-2014.