Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/07/02-2087.htm
Timestamp: 2020-02-26 12:58:50
Document Index: 307193341

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6203', '§ 301', '§ 6203', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301']

02-2087 -- March v. Internal Revenue Service -- 07/15/2003
| Keyword | Case | Docket | Date: Filed / Added | (32474 bytes) (21067 bytes)
BRIAN HOMER MARCH and VICTORIA BACA MARCH,
Plaintiffs-Appellants, No. 02-2087
(D.C. No. CIV-01-895 LH/KBM)
Paul F. Becht of the Becht Law Firm, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
David C. Iglesias, United States Attorney, and Manuel Lucero, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendant-Appellee.
We originally filed an opinion in this case on February 25, 2003. Appellee Internal Revenue Service subsequently filed a Motion to Amend Opinion and Appellants filed a Response to Appellee's Motion to Amend Opinion. We construe both Appellee's motion and Appellants' response as motions for rehearing and grant them to the extent necessary to clarify our discussion of the procedures and forms used by the IRS. Having reviewed the issues raised in the motion, we hereby vacate our opinion filed on February 25, 2003, and substitute this opinion to clarify that Form RACS 006 satisfies the statutory and regulatory notice requirements. The petitions for rehearing are in all other respects denied.
With respect to the first claim, Appellants argue that, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6203 and 26 C.F.R. § 301.6203-1, the IRS must provide a taxpayer, upon request, with an assessment of taxes due. They further allege that the assessment must be made on Form 23C and signed by an authorized officer of the IRS. In response to Appellants' request for a proof of claim for unpaid taxes, the IRS provided Certificates of Assessments and Payments on Form 4340. Appellants assert that Form 4340 does not meet the requirements of the regulations.
Title 26 U.S.C. § 6203 simply provides that
[t]he assessment shall be made by recording the liability of the taxpayer in the office of the Secretary in accordance with rules or regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Upon request of the taxpayer, the Secretary shall furnish the taxpayer a copy of the record of the assessment.
The regulations accompanying this statute provide that "[t]he assessment shall be made by an assessment officer signing the summary record of assessment." 26 C.F.R. § 301.6203-1 (2002). The regulations further provide that the summary record of assessment shall include certain information and that upon a taxpayer's request, "he shall be furnished a copy of the pertinent parts of the assessment which set forth [certain information]." Id.
To ensure the taxpayer's ability to challenge alleged errors in the assessment process, the regulations allow the taxpayer to request a copy of certain parts of the assessment record. However, the courts have generally held that the IRS need not provide a taxpayer with a copy of the actual Summary Record of Assessment. Instead, the courts have held that the IRS may submit Certificates of Assessments and Payments on Form 4340. Form 4340 details the assessments made and the relevant date that a Summary Record of Assessment was executed. The courts have also held that these Certificates on Form 4340 "are presumptive proof of a valid assessment." See Guthrie v. Sawyer, 970 F.2d 733, 737 (10th Cir. 1992) (quotations and citations omitted); United States v. Tempelman, 111 F. Supp. 2d 85, 90-91 (D.N.H. 2000), aff'd, 2001 WL 725370 (1st Cir. June 26, 2001); United States v. Estabrook, 78 F. Supp. 2d 558, 561-62 (N.D. Tex. 1999).
The Commissioner "has for a number of years been engaged in making a transition in [his] assessment procedure from the general use of a manually prepared Form 23C to the general use of RACS 006." Roberts v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 365, 370 (2002), aff'd without published opinion (11th Cir. March 13, 2003). See United States v. Letscher, 83 F. Supp. 2d 367, 375 (S.D.N.Y. 1999); Leier v. Dept. of Treasury/IRS, 73 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 533, 534 (M.D. Fla. 1993); Tsimbidis v. IRS, 72 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6640, 6641 (E.D. Va. 1993). Like Form 23C, RACS Report 006 is a summary record of assessment. However, RACS Report 006 is generated on the computer and then signed by an assessment officer on the date of assessment in accordance with 26 C.F.R. § 301.6203-1. See Internal Revenue Manual 3.17.63.21.6(2)(b) (Oct. 1, 2002). See also Roberts, 118 T.C. at 370, n.8. Form 23C is now only used when the computer is unavailable. See Erickson v. United States, 1990 WL 322794, at *7 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 15, 1990).
Therefore, as the IRS concedes in its brief, Form 23C is not generally used. Nevertheless, since RACS Report 006 contains the same information contained on Form 23C and is certified and signed by an assessment officer, RACS Report 006 satisfies the signature and certification requirements of 26 C.F.R. § 301.6203-1. Furthermore, as discussed above, production of a Form 4340 creates a presumption that a Summary Record of Assessment, whether on Form 23C or RACS Report 006, was validly executed and certified.(1) As the magistrate judge found, the Certificates of Assessment provided to Appellants on Form 4340 were certified and valid. Therefore, Appellants' first claim has no merit.
The regulations cited by Appellants merely provide that the various official seals of certain offices of the IRS may be used in lieu of the seal of the Treasury Department when the attestation or certification is required of an officer in that office. The regulations further provide that courts must take judicial notice of the various seals of the IRS. 26 C.F.R. § 301-7514-1(c), (d). The regulations merely require that the assessments be signed by "an assessment officer," which is appointed by the district director. 26 C.F.R. § 301.6203-1 (2002). The Form 4340 provided to the taxpayers establishes a presumption that a Form 23C or RACS 006 was validly signed and certified.
After a thorough review of the record and the briefs, we conclude that the district court did not err in dismissing the appeal, and its Order of December 31, 2002, is AFFIRMED. Appellee's Motion to Amend Opinion, which we construe as a Motion for Rehearing, is GRANTED.
*.After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to honor the parties' request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f). The case is therefore submitted without oral argument.
1.We note that the General Accounting Office, in a report to Congress on March 6, 1996, identified certain inaccuracies and problems with the use of RACS 006. Such inaccuracies and deficiencies have not been raised with respect to the facts in this case and are therefore irrelevant. Our review is limited to a determination of whether an assessment on RACS 006 qualifies as a summary assessment for purposes of 26 C.F.R. § 301.6203-1.
URL: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/07/02-2087.htm.