United States v. Giordano

301 F. Supp. 884, 24 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 69
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJune 20, 1969
DocketNo. 69 C 20(1)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 301 F. Supp. 884 (United States v. Giordano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Giordano, 301 F. Supp. 884, 24 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 69 (E.D. Mo. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HARPER, Chief Judge.

This is an action by the United States and its agent, to obtain judicial enforcement of a summons of the Internal Revenue Service. Jurisdiction is based upon the express provisions of 26 U.S. C.A. §§ 7604(a) and 7402(b).

The petitioner McGuire is a special agent of the Intelligence Division of the Internal Revenue Service and is at present conducting an investigation, together with Revenue Agent J. B. Marchbein, of the federal income tax liability of the Banana Distributing Company of [886]*886St. Louis, Inc. This investigation was begun in relation to the tax years 1964 and 1965 and was later expanded to include 1966. On January 8, 1968, agent Marchbein was given access to a portion of the taxpayer’s corporate books at the office of its accountant for a period of time somewhat less than eight hours in duration. The books he was shown were incomplete and all of the necessary records were not present. He was requested to furnish a list of all the records he needed to complete the examination and he did so. However, at this point voluntary cooperation was withdrawn by the taxpayer. Then on May 20, 1968, McGuire, as an authorized delegate of the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, issued a summons to the defendant Giordano in his capacity as the president of the taxpayer, requiring him to appear before the Agent with the necessary corporate records and further to give testimony relative to them. The defendant appeared with his attorney, but refused and failed to produce the books and records and failed and refused to testify. This action followed.

The framework in which the court must act on the request to enforce the summons is set forth in United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 85 S.Ct. 248, 13 L. Ed.2d 112:

“ * * * the Commissioner need not meet any standard of probable cause to obtain enforcement of his summons, either before or after the three-year statute of limitations of ordinary tax liability has expired. He must show that the investigation will be conducted pursuant to a legitimate purpose, that the inquiry may be relevant to the purpose, that the information sought is not already within the Commissioner’s possession, and that the administrative steps required by the Code have been followed * *

The United States, by its testimony at the hearing held on this matter, complied with this directive. The agents testified that they were conducting a joint' income tax investigation of the taxpayer for the years in question. They stated that the books and records requested were necessary to this examination for the purpose of determining the correct tax liability of the corporation. They further testified that they were not in possession of the information sought and the evidence revealed that they had complied with the Code requirements for the summons.

While many of the statements of the agents on the stand were conclusions, the defendant did not object, nor did he seek further explanation. In the opinion of the court, the government made a prima facie case for enforcement of the summons. At this point the burden then shifted to the defendant under the rules announced in Powell, supra.

“It is the court’s process which is invoked to enforce the administrative summons and a court may not permit its process to be abused. * * * The burden of showing an abuse of the court’s process is on the taxpayer, and it is not met by a mere showing, * * * that the statute of limitations nor ordinary deficiencies has run or that the records in question have already been once examined.”

In this instance, the defendant totally failed to meet the burden so imposed upon him. However, the defendant raises, directly, and supports by inference certain points which merit further consideration.

The defendant’s first argument is based upon the provisions of 26 U.S.C.A. § 7605(b), which reads:

“(b) Restriction on Examination of Taxpayer — No taxpayer shall be subjected to unnecessary examination or investigations, and only one inspection of a taxpayer’s books of account shall be made for each taxable year unless the taxpayer requests otherwise; or unless the Secretary or his delegate notifies the taxpayer in writing that an additional inspection is necessary.”

The defendant did not receive a notice that an additional examination was necessary and claims that the exam[887]*887ination of January 8th was one examination and that therefore such a notice was required. If true, then under the rule of Powell, the government would not have made its case. However, it is obvious that such a cursory examination of less than all of the necessary records does not constitute the type of inspection or examination contemplated by the above-quoted section. All of the books of account were not present, and those which were present were often incomplete. Further, it defies common sense to think that an income tax audit of a corporation could be conducted in that period of time. See, e.g., National Plate & Window Glass Co., Inc. v. United States, 2 Cir., 254 F.2d 92. The government urges that the process was a continuing examination which was not completed and that, therefore, one examination was still in progress. Many cases support this proposition, which in the court’s opinion is equally applicable here. Common sense dictates that an examination may be extended over a period of time, and indeed in this instance notice of termination of an investigation, as specified in 26 CFR 601.105 was never given. See, Application of Magnus, 2 Cir., 299 F.2d 335, aff’d, D.C., 196 F.Supp. 127, cert. denied 370 U.S. 918, 82 S.Ct. 1556, 8 L.Ed.2d 499; United States v. Crespo, D.C., 281 F.Supp. 928; United States v. Powell, supra.

Under the circumstances here existing this first defense is without merit.

Second, defendant urges that the summons was issued for a criminal investigatory purpose and was not therefore issued for a legitimate purpose. He urges a failure of proof as to legitimacy. The court rejects this contention. As noted, both agents testified that the joint investigation was for the purpose of determining the correct income tax liability of the corporation for the years in question. This is a proper purpose under Section 7602. Both agents denied that any criminal prosecutions were under investigation or were otherwise contemplated. While the very presence of a special agent indicates at least a suspicion on the part of the government, that suspicion and the possibility of criminal prosecution cannot invalidate the summons. A joint investigation is within the purview of Section 7602. See, e.g., McGarry v. Riley, 1 Cir., 363 F.2d 421; Wild v. United States, 9 Cir., 362 F.2d 206; Sanford v.

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Bluebook (online)
301 F. Supp. 884, 24 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-giordano-moed-1969.