Opinion ID: 767352
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Person Required to Pay Over Tax

Text: 15 As noted, only a person required under this title to collect, account for, and pay over withholding taxes is criminally liable under S 7202. Thayer argues that only employers such as MIS and ELOP who are required to withhold employees' taxes under I.R.C. SS 3402-03 qualify. Thayer contends he was merely an officer and part-owner of the corporations, and not an employer as defined by the Internal Revenue Code. 6 Because this is a question of statutory interpretation, we will exercise plenary review. See Parise, 159 F.3d at 794; Hayden, 64 F.2d at 128. 16 I.R.C. S 6672(a), applying the same language in S 7202, imposes civil penalties on any person required to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over any tax imposed by this title who willfully fails to collect such tax. In Slodov v. United States, 436 U.S. 238 (1978), the Supreme Court held that S 6672(a) applies to corporate officers or employees responsible for the collection and paying over of withholding taxes. See id. at 244-45. 7 Although the government in Slodov sought only civil penalties, the Court stated that persons civilly liable under S 6672(a) could also be held criminally liable under S 7202. See id. at 245, 247. Thayer urges us not to follow this apparent dicta in Slodov. He contends that a corporate officer is a person for purposes of S 6672(a) only because S 6671(b) specifies that the term person, as used in I.R.C. ch. 68, subchapter B, encompassing SS 6671-24, includes an officer or employee of a corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who as such officer, employee, or member is under a duty to perform the act in respect of which the violation occurs. But for purposes of S 7202, the term person is defined by identical language. See I.R.C. S 7343 (The term `person' as used in this chapter [I.R.C. ch. 75, encompassing SS 7201-44], includes an officer or employee of a corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who as such officer, employee, or member is under a duty to perform the act in respect of which the violation occurs.). Therefore, Thayer, as the president and majority owner of MIS and ELOP, was properly charged and convicted as a person under S 7202.