Taylor v. U.S. Internal Revenue Service

192 F.R.D. 223, 84 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5783, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12835, 1999 WL 718557
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedJuly 27, 1999
DocketNo. V-98-081
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 192 F.R.D. 223 (Taylor v. U.S. Internal Revenue Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. U.S. Internal Revenue Service, 192 F.R.D. 223, 84 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5783, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12835, 1999 WL 718557 (S.D. Tex. 1999).

Opinion

ORDER

RAINEY, District Judge.

Pending before the Court are Defendant Cuero Independent School District (“CISD”)’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt.# 15); Plaintiffs’ “Motion to Suppress” (Dkt.# 21); and Plaintiffs’ Motion for Default Judgment (Dkt.# 26).

I. Factual Background

Plaintiffs’ complaint can be distilled to a single paragraph: “Notice of lien and notice of levy were filed against Petitioner on August 4, and August 25, 1995 in the county clerk[’]s office of Lavaca County Texas without benefit of a determination of a judicial proceeding, thus violating due process of law as guaranteed by the 5th and 14th [Amendments] of the Constitution of the United States of America.” Complaint 119.

II. Analysis

A. “Objection of Attempt to Commit Fraud”

Plaintiffs first complain that CISD’s counsel are guilty of “an attempt of criminal fraud” by “attempting] by fraud to remove the case into an inferior Court.” Plaintiffs insist that they filed their complaint in a “Common Law Court under Article III,” while CISD filed its motion to dismiss in a “Court of Admiralty.” This objection is OVERRULED for failure to make sense. This case is pending, and the parties’ papers have been filed, in a single court — the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a court created by Congress under the authority of Article III of the Constitution.

B. Service of Process

In its motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(5), CISD maintains that Plaintiffs failed to effect proper service of process within 120 days of filing their complaint or to obtain from CISD a waiver of service as provided by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d). A review of the case file demonstrates that CISD is right. The return-of-service affidavit (Dkt.# 11) indicates that Plaintiff Robert Taylor acted as the server of process. The Federal Rules, however, provide “[s]ervice may be effected by any person who is not a party____” Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(c)(2) (emphasis added). Inasmuch as more than 120 days have passed since the filing of Plaintiffs’ complaint; 1 Plaintiffs have not moved for an enlargement of time in order to perfect service; and Plaintiffs made no attempt in their response to CISD’s motion to show good cause for their failure to perfect service, the action against CISD is properly dismissed without prejudice. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(m); Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(5).

C. Failure to State a Claim

Defects in service of process notwithstanding, CISD argues that Plaintiffs’ action must be dismissed for failure to state a claim, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Attached to CISD’s motion is Exhibit C, a notice of levy from the United States Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), to which Plaintiffs have objected in their “motion to suppress.” Because Plaintiffs’ “motion to suppress” takes issue not with the authenticity, but the legal validity, of the notice, the Court OVERRULES Plaintiffs’ objection and shall treat CISD’s motion as one for summary judgment. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b) (“If, [on a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss], matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56.... ”); see also Stewart v. Murphy, 174 F.3d 530, 532-33 (5th Cir.1999).

Summary judgment is proper if “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories,- and admissions on file, together with the [225]*225affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Disputes about material facts are “genuine,” as contemplated by the federal rule, if the evidence is such that a rational trier of fact could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). In this instance, the Court believes summary judgment is appropriate.

CISD’s Exhibit C is a Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income issued by the IRS to CISD on June 7, 1998. It identifies Plaintiff Robert L. Taylor as the delinquent taxpayer and $14,330.25 as the total amount due the IRS, as of June 30, 1998. It is settled that the IRS may constitutionally satisfy outstanding income taxes by way of nonjudicial, administrative levy under 26 U.S.C. § 6331 et seq. See United States v. National Bank of Commerce, 472 U.S. 713, 720-21, 105 S.Ct. 2919, 86 L.Ed.2d 565 (1985). A custodian of property levied upon by the IRS must comply with the notice of levy; if he does not, he becomes “liable in his own person and estate” to the government for the sum in question and may incur additional penalties as well. See 26 U.S.C. § 6332(d)(1) & (2); National Bank, 472 U.S. at 721, 105 S.Ct. 2919. It is plain that in the instant case, Plaintiffs allege only that CISD has, as required by federal statute, complied with the IRS’s notice of levy.

One who complies with the IRS’s notice is immunized from liability to a delinquent taxpayer for delivering that taxpayer’s property to the IRS. See 26 U.S.C. § 6332(e) (discharging the person honoring a levy “from any obligation or liability to the delinquent taxpayer ... with respect to such property or rights to property arising from such surrender or payment”); see also Melton v. Teachers Ins. & Annuity Ass’n of Am., 114 F.3d 557, 560-61 (5th Cir.1997); Burroughs v. Wallingford, 780 F.2d 502, 503 (5th Cir.1986) (per curiam). Plaintiffs’ several objections to the legal validity of the underlying notice of levy, see, e.g.,

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192 F.R.D. 223, 84 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5783, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12835, 1999 WL 718557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-us-internal-revenue-service-txsd-1999.