United States v. Harper

397 F. Supp. 983, 35 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1232, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13092
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 31, 1975
DocketMisc. 74-235
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 397 F. Supp. 983 (United States v. Harper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Harper, 397 F. Supp. 983, 35 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1232, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13092 (E.D. Pa. 1975).

Opinion

' MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NEWCOMER, District Judge.

Respondent Robin Harper is a Quaker who has refused to pay any income taxes *986 since 1958. In 1971 the IRS determined respondent’s deficiency for the years 1962-1967, a determination which respondent unsuccessfully challenged in the Tax Court on the grounds, inter alia, that the payment of taxes to be used for war violated his religious beliefs and thus his First Amendment right to freely exercise his religion. The IRS is now attempting to collect the amounts that respondent owes for the years 1962-1967. As part of that collection effort an IRS agent served Harper with a summons requiring that he identify his assets and sources of income so that the IRS can levy on them. Harper declined to respond to the summons, and the government sought to enforce the summons in this court.

Respondent Harper opposes enforcement on the grounds that compelling him to participate in the collection of war taxes violates his First Amendment rights. Respondent also claims that enforcement would violate his Fifth Amendment rights in that the subpoenaed information could be used against him in any criminal prosecution for failure to file or pay income taxes for any year after 1967. For the reasons discussed below, we find no substance in respondent’s First Amendment claim but we do find that respondent could reasonably fear that the information the IRS seeks might be used against him in a criminal proceeding, and we thus decline to enforce the summons.

Facts

Respondent Robin Harper was served with the summons which is the subject of this proceeding on June 13, 1974. The summons directed him to appear before Revenue Officer Mary Wright on June 25, 1975 to give testimony relating to the collection of his tax liability for the tax years 1962-1967. The summons also demanded that he bring with him “all documents and records in your possession or control which are necessary to enable a representative of the Internal Revenue Service to complete a current financial statement for [respondent].” Harper appeared before Officer Wright on June 26, 1975 (after having been granted a one-day extension), but he refused either to produce any records of his assets or income or, when asked to do so by Officer Wright, to fill out the financial statement attached to the summons. 1 The government then moved, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7604 (a), 2 to have this Court enforce the summons.

The basic authority for the issuance of a summons such as the one above is 26 U.S.C. § 7602, which states:

‘‘Examination of books and witnesses
“For the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of any return, making a return where none has been made, determining the liability of any person for any internal revenue tax or the liability at law or in equity of any transferee or fiduciary of any person in respect of any internal revenue tax, or collecting any such liability, the Secretary or his delegate is authorized—
“(1) To examine any books, papers, records, or other data which may be relevant or material to such inquiry;
“(2) To summon the person liable for tax or required to perform the act, or any officer or employee of such person, or any person having possession, custody, or care of books of account containing entries relating to the business of the person liable for tax or required to perform the act, or any *987 other person the Secretary or his delegate may deem proper, to appear before the Secretary or his delegate at a time and place named in the summons and to produce such books, papers, records, or other data, and to give such testimony, under oath, as may be relevant or material to such inquiry; and
“(3) To take such testimony of the person concerned, under oath, as may be relevant or material to such inquiry.” (Emphasis Added)

The government’s stated purpose for issuing this summons was to aid in the collection of respondent’s taxes for the years 1962-1967. That respondent owes these taxes, as well as the precise amount he owes, has already been determined by the United States Tax Court.- Robin Harper v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Tax Court Memo 1973-214; fl 73,214 P-H Memo TC. In the ease before the Tax Court, respondent challenged the Commissioner’s deficiency determinations on grounds similar to those he raises here, i. e., that payment of taxes for use in war would violate his religious beliefs and, therefore, his First Amendment rights. The Tax Court, relying on Susan Jo Russell, 60 T.C. 942 (1973), rejected respondent’s arguments. 3 Respondent’s challenge to a deficiency determination for taxable year 1971 met a similar fate. 4 Robin Harper v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, T.C. Memo 1974-117; ¶ 74,117 P-H Memo TC.

This is not the first time that the IRS and respondent have confronted one another over a summons. In 1958 petitioner Harper informed the IRS that he would no longer pay federal income taxes because of his opposition to United States foreign policy. 5 No action was taken against respondent by the IRS until 1966, when a Revenue Agent was assigned the task of determining respon *988 dent’s deficiency. The agent first attempted to acquire information about respondent’s income from respondent himself by serving him with a summons similar to the one herein. Respondent refused to comply with this summons, and the Revenue Agent was compelled to reconstruct respondent’s income from third party sources. In 1969 respondent’s deficiency was determined to be $26,159 for the tax years 1958-1967. (This figure represents $19,712 in taxes and $6,447 in penalties). When respondent was informed of the amount of this deficiency, he agreed to fill out income tax statements (Form 1040s) for each of the tax years in question. Respondent also produced his books and records to support the amounts set forth in the Form 1040s. Based' on respondent’s books and records and on the 1040s, only one of which was found to be inaccurate, the Revenue Agent recomputed respondent’s deficiency for the years 1958-1967 at $5,726.19. 6 It was this determination which respondent unsuccessfully challenged in his first Tax Court case.

Revenue Agent Wright is presently attempting to collect the portion of this amount which represents taxes owed for years 1962-1967, an amount equal to approximately $1,400. (There is no explanation in the record of why IRS has limited its collection efforts to this period).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Harper
569 F. Supp. 602 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1983)
Hughes Tool Co. v. Meier
489 F. Supp. 354 (D. Utah, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
397 F. Supp. 983, 35 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1232, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13092, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-harper-paed-1975.