Opinion ID: 733249
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Intervention in an Enforcement Proceeding.

Text: 10 Because our system of federal taxation relies on self-reporting, it is essential that the IRS have the power to issue administrative summonses in order to have effective oversight. United States v. Arthur Young & Co., 465 U.S. 805, 816, 104 S.Ct. 1495, 1502, 79 L.Ed.2d 826 (1984); United States v. Bisceglia, 420 U.S. 141, 145-46, 95 S.Ct. 915, 918-19, 43 L.Ed.2d 88 (1975). In 26 U.S.C. § 7601, Congress gave the IRS a broad mandate to investigate and audit persons to insure compliance with federal tax laws. Bisceglia, 420 U.S. at 145, 95 S.Ct. at 918. As a necessary incident to the investigatory power, Congress gave the IRS expansive authority to: 11 summon the person liable for tax ... or any other person the Secretary may deem proper, to appear before the Secretary 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. 12 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a)(2) (emphasis added). This wholesale grant of summons authority is based upon the traditional duty persons have to appear, give testimony, and provide evidence, and is only subject to the traditional privileges and limitations. United States v. Euge, 444 U.S. 707, 711, 714, 100 S.Ct. 874, 878, 879, 63 L.Ed.2d 141 (1980). Pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §§ 7402(b) and 7604(b), district courts have jurisdiction to enforce an administrative summons in an adversarial proceeding commenced by the filing of a complaint. See, e.g., Bisceglia, 420 U.S. at 146, 95 S.Ct. at 919; United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 58 n. 18, 85 S.Ct. 248, 255 n. 18, 13 L.Ed.2d 112 (1964). 13 There is of course a danger that such powers may lead to unreasonable invasions of privacy. However, a party may move to intervene in an enforcement proceeding pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 24, to assert interests in the information sought to be obtained through the summons served upon another party. This right to intervene is permissive only. Donaldson, 400 U.S. at 527-30, 91 S.Ct. at 540-42. 14 Because the IRS has not initiated an enforcement proceeding against the petitioner's son, this procedure for challenging the summons is not presently available to Ross Upton. 15