Source: http://openjurist.org/521/f2d/329/united-states-v-poll
Timestamp: 2016-04-29 10:52:23
Document Index: 440389803

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 7202', '§ 7203', '§ 7203', '§ 145', '§ 1821', '§ 2707', '§ 1430', '§ 1627', '§ 7202', '§ 7202', '§ 7202']

521 F2d 329 United States v. Poll | OpenJurist
521 F. 2d 329 - United States v. Poll HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 521 F.2d.
521 F2d 329 United States v. Poll 521 F.2d 329
75-2 USTC P 9625
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Stanford Robert POLL, Defendant-Appellant.
The court finds and holds such offered evidence is irrelevant and inadmissible, because § 7202 requires that the failure to truthfully account for and pay over the taxes be done 'willfully,' and such term does not require proof of an intent to defraud the Government, United States v. Klee, No. 73-2741 (494 F.2d 394) (9th Cir., 3/28/74 at p. 2), but 'connotes a voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty' accompanied by a 'bad purpose or evil motive.' United States v. Bishop, 412 U.S. 346 at 360, 361 (93 S.Ct. 2008, 36 L.Ed.2d 941) (1973).
We recently considered the meaning of "willfully," as it relates to a criminal penalty provided by the Internal Revenue Code, in United States v. Hawk, 497 F.2d 365 (9th Cir.), Cert. denied, 419 U.S. 838, 95 S.Ct. 67, 42 L.Ed.2d 65 (1974). There we approved the following charge with respect to willfulness in a prosecution for failure to file income tax returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7203.
We are guided by United States v. Andros, 484 F.2d 531, 533 (9th Cir. 1973) where we held that the financial circumstances of the accused are relevant in determining whether the failure to pay taxes is willful. Our decision in Andros, which involved prosecution of a willful failure to pay a tax under 26 U.S.C. § 7203, is rooted in Spies v. United States, 317 U.S. 492, 497-98, 63 S.Ct. 364, 367, 87 L.Ed. 418 (1943) where the Court observed:
The difference between willful failure to pay a tax when due, which is made a misdemeanor, and willful attempt to defeat and evade one, which is made a felony, is not easy to detect or define. Both must be willful, and willful, as we have said, is a word of many meanings, its construction often being influenced by its context, United States v. Murdock, 290 U.S. 389, 54 S.Ct. 223, 78 L.Ed. 381. It may well mean something more as applied to nonpayment of a tax than when applied to failure to make a return. Mere voluntary and purposeful, as distinguished from accidental, omission to make a timely return might meet the test of willfulness. But in view of our traditional aversion to imprisonment for debt, we would not without the clearest manifestation of Congressional intent assume that mere knowing and intentional default in payment of a tax, where there had been no willful failure to disclose the liability is intended to constitute a criminal offense of any degree. We would expect willfulness in such a case to include some element of evil motive and want of justification in view of all the financial circumstances of the taxpayer. (Emphasis added.)
The felony penalty for willful failure "to collect or truthfully account for and pay over" appeared in various sections of the 1939 Code, each such section being applicable to taxes imposed under specified chapters or subchapters. §§ 145(b) (income tax); 894(b)(2)(C) (estate tax); 1718(b) (admissions and dues); 1821(a)(2) (documents, playing cards); 2557(b)(3) (narcotics); 2707(c) (firearms). Cross-referencing made the penalties of these sections applicable to persons engaged in the collection of other taxes. For example, the penalties of § 1821 and § 2707 were made applicable to social security (FICA) taxes by § 1430 and to the withholding tax on wages by § 1627.
The first reported prosecution for willful failure to truthfully account for and pay over withholding taxes appears to have been Wilson v. United States, 250 F.2d 312 (9th Cir. 1958), Rehearing denied, 254 F.2d 391 (9th Cir. 1958), On remand, 172 F.Supp. 93 (N.D.Cal.1958), Reversed, 264 F.2d 74 (9th Cir. 1959). In Wilson we said that "there does not appear to be a single reported decision involving a felony prosecution for failure to pay withholding taxes." 250 F.2d at 314. The situation has changed but little since. In Abdul v. United States, 254 F.2d 292 (9th Cir. 1958), we mentioned that the appellant had been acquitted of charges under § 7202 with regard to withholding taxes. United States v. Porth, 426 F.2d 519 (10th Cir.), Cert. denied, 400 U.S. 824, 91 S.Ct. 47, 27 L.Ed.2d 53 (1970), affirms a § 7202 conviction for withholding tax violations. To our knowledge these cases are the sum of reported prosecutions under § 7202 as applied to withholding taxes