Riley v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue (In Re Riley)

88 B.R. 906, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 2262
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 15, 1987
Docket3-19-10592
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 88 B.R. 906 (Riley v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue (In Re Riley)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riley v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue (In Re Riley), 88 B.R. 906, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 2262 (Wis. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

ROBERT D. MARTIN, Chief Judge.

On October 18,1983, John L. and Jean F. Riley filed their chapter 13 plan which provided monthly payments of $976.00 to the trustee until the sale of their house. The monthly payments then would be reduced to $675.00 per month for the balance of thirty-six months. The Rileys were scheduled to pay out a total of $120,205.73, of which $69,895.70 would go to secured claims and $20,337.31 to priority claims.

Proceeds of the sale of the house were to be used to pay in full claims secured by mortgages. 1 Any remaining sale proceeds were to be applied to payment of taxes, *909 interest, and penalties of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (“WDR”) for the years 1980,1981,1982, and 1983. Proceeds from any other assets turned over to the trustee were also to be used for the payment of priority taxes. In addition, the IRS was to receive $100.00 per month and the WDR $79.07 per month toward the payment of priority taxes.

Although claims had not been finally determined, the trustee recommended confirmation of the plan. No objections to confirmation were timely filed. On December 19, 1983, an order was entered confirming the Rileys’ chapter 13 plan pending the determination of claims.

On December 29, 1983, the IRS filed an unsecured claim for priority taxes in the amount of $10,480.89 (including interest and penalties) and secured claims in the amount of $62,811.14 (including interests and penalties). On February 14, 1984, the IRS filed an additional unsecured claim for priority taxes in the amount of $14,248.16 (including interest). Thereafter, WDR filed its unsecured claim of $727.40 (not including interest or penalties) for priority taxes and a secured claim of $53,712.20 (including interest and penalties). The security for all tax claims consisted of liens, primarily on the Rileys’ house. On April 24, 1984, in the absence of any objections this court allowed the following claims:

CLAIM AMOUNT CLASS
DANE COUNTY TREASURER 2,657.37 priority
DEAN CLINIC 1,268.50 unsecured
ELANCO FINANCIAL SERVICES 774.35 unsecured
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 73,292.03 secured
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 14,248.16 priority
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 33,500.00 secured
WISCONSIN DEPT. OF REVENUE 54,439.60 priority
MARJORIE YOCUM 3,000.00 secured
ELANCO FINANCIAL SERVICES 1,315.96 unsecured

The Rileys’ house was sold sometime in April or May of 1985 for $85,000.00. The order authorizing the sale, dated April 11, 1985, provided that the sale would be free and clear of all liens, with the liens to attach to the proceeds.

Prior to the house sale the following amounts had been paid out to various creditors in accordance to the terms of the plan:

Jerome Ott $ 1,200.00
(attorney for debtors)
Internal Revenue Service 4,055.08
Small Business Administration 1,846.90
Wisconsin Dept, of Revenue 2,295.68
Marjorie Yocum 152.70
Anchor Savings & Loan 148.00
Dane County Treasurer 6,465.75
Total $16,164.11

After the sale the trustee distributed part of the proceeds as follows:

Small Business Administration 37,840.72
Anchor Savings & Loan 8,802.92
Lawton & Cates (Jerome Ott) 263.00

SBA and Anchor Savings & Loan have now been paid in full.

The remaining balance of $37,318.14 from the sale proceeds is being held by the trustee. The Rileys brought this adversary proceeding seeking a determination as to the relative rights of various claimants to the proceeds. In addition to sale proceeds and interest, the trustee is holding $11,-096.24 from regular plan payments. The trustee seeks direction in the application of those funds. 2

*910 The Rileys demand that the sale and plan payment proceeds be applied toward the satisfaction of the priority taxes of the IRS and the WDR before being applied toward their tax liens. They maintain that they were entitled to provide in their plan for the satisfaction of priority taxes before the satisfaction of tax liens in accordance with the “general rule that a taxpayer may direct payments toward the application of a particular tax deficiency.” Even if this general rule does not apply they argue that the IRS and WDR cannot object to the plan’s treatment of their secured claims because once a plan has been confirmed all creditors are bound by the treatment of their claim in the confirmed plan. The Rileys cite In re Flick, 14 B.R. 912, 918 (Bankr.E.D.Pa.1981) where the court stated that “... the terms of the confirmed plan bind both the debtor and creditor, and controls any claims of the creditor as adjusted by the plan. The creditor is bound by the confirmed plan whether or not he has objected to the plan.” They also demand that the IRS and the WDR satisfy all tax liens upon the earliest to occur of either payment in full of the lien or the completion of the plan, arguing that after the completion of the plan, all remaining tax liens will be unsecured and may be discharged.

The IRS and the WDR contend that their secured tax claims must be satisfied in full before any payments are made toward priority taxes. In response to the Rileys’ argument that they are bound by the plan’s treatment of their secured tax claims both taxing authorities cite In re Simmons, 765 F.2d 547 (5th Cir.1985) for the proposition that a confirmed plan does not invalidate tax liens.

As a general rule, a taxpayer may direct the application of payments to whatever type of tax liability he chooses. Muntwyler v. United States, 703 F.2d 1030, 1032 (7th Cir.1983), citing O’Dell v. United States, 326 F.2d 451, 456 (10th Cir.1964). However, this rule applies only when a taxpayer makes voluntary payments to the IRS. Muntwyler, 703 F.2d at 1032. When a payment is involuntary the IRS may allocate the payments as it sees fit. See id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 B.R. 906, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 2262, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riley-v-wisconsin-department-of-revenue-in-re-riley-wiwb-1987.