Taramark Title Co., Inc. v. United States

402 F. Supp. 2d 323, 96 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6967, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39633, 2005 WL 3278018
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedSeptember 30, 2005
DocketCIV.A.03-12011-GAO
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 402 F. Supp. 2d 323 (Taramark Title Co., Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Taramark Title Co., Inc. v. United States, 402 F. Supp. 2d 323, 96 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6967, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39633, 2005 WL 3278018 (D. Mass. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

O’TOOLE, District Judge.

The appellant, Taramark Title Company, Inc., filed this appeal pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6330(d)(1) to obtain review of an Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) collection determination. After consideration of the parties’ oral arguments and written submissions and the administrative record, I conclude that the IRS determination ought to be affirmed.

I. Background

Taramark, a Massachusetts corporation which provides title research services, failed to make timely federal employment tax payments for certain periods in 2001 and 2002. In February 2003, the IRS sent Taramark a notice of its intent, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6331, to levy on Taramark’s assets to collect the unpaid taxes. In response, Taramark requested a “Collection Due Process Hearing,” pursuant to § 6330, which affords a taxpayer the right to an administrative hearing and other process before any levy is made.

IRS appeals officer Lisa Boudreau conducted a hearing in June 2003. Attorney Timothy Burke represented Taramark at the hearing and represents the company in this action. At the time of the hearing, the amount of delinquent taxes and penalties due was approximately $140,000.

After the hearing, Taramark offered to make installment payments of between $3,000 and $10,000 per month toward its outstanding liability. The IRS rejected that proposal. Taramark then submitted an “offer in compromise,” offering to pay a total of $55,000, with an initial payment of $5,000 and twenty-four monthly payments of $2,500. The IRS rejected that proposal *325 as well. The IRS advised Taramark that its proposals were not acceptable and invited Taramark to make a new proposal. Taramark, however, did not make any additional proposals.

In September 2008 the IRS issued a Notice of Determination, which indicated that Taramark’s proposed collection alternatives were rejected because the IRS had determined, based on the financial information Taramark had provided, that Taramark had the financial ability to make installment payments of up to $26,450 per month and ultimately to fully pay its outstanding liability. Taramark’s settlement proposals were for significantly less. Consequently, the Notice of Determination indicated that the intent to levy and proposed collection action were fully sustained.

II. Discussion

A. Due process

Taramark principally complains that the administrative proceedings were inadequate and violated its due process rights because the hearing officer failed to communicate her view of the terms of an acceptable offer in compromise; the hearing officer was responsible for both negotiating with Taramark and then ultimately determining the adequacy of the offer in compromise; the IRS does not have ascertainable and enforceable standards to guide the consideration of an offer in compromise and determination of a collection action; and the IRS did not conduct an independent administrative review and did not offer Taramark the right to an administrative appeal. Taramark’s protests are unconvincing as it asks for more procedural protections than it is due.

The process due is prescribed by the statute. Prior to 1998, “the IRS had the right to levy on taxpayer property without any prior opportunity for a hearing or procedural due process, so long as post-deprivation procedures were provided.” Living Care Alternatives of Utica v. United States, 411 F.3d 621, 624 (6th Cir.2005). As part of the broader IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pub.L. No. 105-206, 112 Stat. 685, Congress promulgated § 6330, setting forth a pre-deprivation administrative scheme designed in part “to ameliorate any harshness caused by allowing the IRS to levy on property without any provision for advance hearing or procedural due process.” Olsen v. United States, 414 F.3d 144, 150 (1st Cir.2005).

Section 6330 affords a taxpayer the right to notice, a fair hearing, and judicial review prior to levy by the government. 26 U.S.C. § 6330(a)-(d). During the administrative proceedings, an impartial hearing officer is required to verify “that the requirements of any applicable law or administrative procedure have been met.”- Id. § 6330(c)(1). The taxpayer may raise “any relevant issue relating to the unpaid tax or the proposed levy, including ... offers of collection alternatives, which may include the posting of a bond, the substitution of other assets, ah installment agreement, or an offer-in-compromise.” Id. § 6330(c)(2)(A). The taxpayer may also challenge “the existence or amount of the underlying tax liability.” Id. § 6330(c)(2)(B). Ultimately, the hearing officer’s determination must take into consideration all of the issues presented as well as “whether any proposed collection action balances the need for the efficient collection of taxes with the legitimate concern of the person that any collection action be no more intrusive than necessary.” Id. § 6330(c)(3).

Nevertheless, the statute’s protections are limited. For example, the “fair hearing” requirement does not guarantee a *326 face-to-face meeting; “one or more written or oral communications will suffice.” Olsen, 414 F.3d at 150 & n. 2 (citing Treas. Reg. § 301.6330-l(d)(2)(Q & A-D6) (2004)). Another significant limitation is the scope of the review permitted upon an appeal of an IRS collection determination: where “the amount of the underlying tax liability is not at issue, the trial court and the court of appeals review the determination of the IRS appeals officer for abuse of discretion.” Olsen, 414 F.3d at 150. The First Circuit has further stated that the standard of review in these tax appeals is “more deferential” to the IRS than the review of more formal agency decisions and requires “a clear abuse of discretion in the sense of a clear taxpayer abuse and unfairness by the IRS.” Id. (quoting Living Care, 411 F.3d at 625, 631).

When considering the breadth of the rights afforded by § 6330 and the availability of judicial review of an IRS determination, “B]t must be borne in mind that taxpayers have further recourse, besides the [Collection Due Process] CDP hearing, to post-deprivation procedures. WTiile Congress clearly wanted to prevent mere bureaucratic harassment, we do not understand it to have intended to strip the IRS of effective and reasonable tax collection procedures.” Olsen, 414 F.3d at 151. Thus, the rights and process due are only those specified in the statute, and it would be unwise and inconsistent with Congress’s intent to read broader protections into the generally limited statutory scheme.

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402 F. Supp. 2d 323, 96 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6967, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39633, 2005 WL 3278018, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taramark-title-co-inc-v-united-states-mad-2005.