Opinion ID: 581460
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Slodov's language

Text: 31 First, the Slodov opinion specifically excludes from its ambit Davis's situation, limiting its holding to cases involving the accession of new management: 32 When the same individual or individuals who caused the delinquency in any tax quarter are also the responsible persons at the time the Government's efforts to collect from the [corporate] employer have failed, and it seeks recourse against the responsible employees, there is no question that § 6672 is applicable to them. It is the situation that arises when there has been a change of control of the employer enterprise, here corporations, prior to the expiration of a tax quarter, or at a time when a tax delinquency for past quarters already exists that creates the question for our decision. 33 Id. at 245-46, 98 S.Ct. at 1784 (emphasis added; footnote and citation omitted). 34 While Davis says that he was unaware of ITAC's dereliction until the trust fund taxes were overdue, the district court properly instructed the jury that responsibility is a matter of status, duty, and authority, not knowledge. Thibodeau v. United States, 828 F.2d 1499, 1503 (11th Cir.1987) (per curiam); Wood v. United States, 808 F.2d 411, 415 (5th Cir.1987); see also United States v. Vespe, 868 F.2d 1328, 1334 (3d Cir.1989). The jury found that Davis was a responsible person and, as such, his actions or inactions caused ITAC not to pay over the withheld taxes as required by law. Because Davis was responsible both at the time the taxes went unpaid and at the time the government sought to collect under section 6672, there is no question that § 6672 is applicable to [him]. Slodov, 436 U.S. at 246, 98 S.Ct. at 1784. 35 Davis counters that simply being responsible is not enough. He points out that Mr. Slodov was a corporate officer as of January 31, 1969--the day that payments for the last quarter of 1968 were due. Status as a responsible person, however, does not attach automatically to every officer engaged in fiscal management on the day the tax check must be written. Rather, liability as a responsible person attaches each time salaries are paid during the course of a quarter. As the employer withholds taxes from the employees, a contingent liability is created. The liability merely becomes fixed on the date when the payments are due. Teel, 529 F.2d at 906; see Maggy, 560 F.2d at 1375 (holding that Maggy was a responsible person for that portion of the quarter during which he actually exercised control over corporate disbursements; that Maggy was not technically still a responsible officer on the day payment was due did not expunge his liability for the earlier portion of the quarter); United States v. De Beradinis, 395 F.Supp. 944, 951 (D.Conn.1975) (The obligation of a responsible officer arises at the time the taxes are withheld from wages, not at some subsequent time when payment is due or the return is to be filed.), aff'd mem., 538 F.2d 315 (2d Cir.1976). Mr. Slodov, unlike Davis, had no role in the corporation at the time the taxes were withheld and salaries disbursed. Nor did the corporation have any funds available with which to pay the tax when Slodov arrived on January 31st. 36 Davis, by contrast, did not simply appear on the eve of tax payment day. To the contrary, his status and role in the corporation made him a responsible person from the day the first salary was paid in the last quarter of 1981. Moreover, Davis has made no showing that corporate funds did not exist with which to satisfy the tax liability on the payment due date. He contends only that the funds actually withheld had been disbursed by this time. This is insufficient to invoke the protection of Slodov.