Opinion ID: 4019312
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motions to Dismiss the Levy Counts

Text: Wanland moved to dismiss the levy counts, arguing that under 26 U.S.C. § 6331(e), continuous levies are only authorized for “salary or wages,” and his partnership draws did not qualify as such. Therefore, the government could not prove that Wanland’s partnership profits were “property upon which levy is authorized,” as section 7206(4) requires. The district court concluded that the question ultimately was a factual dispute, and reserved it for trial. Wanland renewed this argument when he moved for a judgment of acquittal on the levy counts under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29(a), which the district court again denied. Wanland also moved to dismiss the levy counts on statute of limitations grounds, arguing that the limit for these counts was three years, not six. The district court rejected that motion. It reviewed the language of 26 U.S.C. § 6531 (which governs the statute of limitations for tax crimes) to conclude that the six-year statute of limitations described in section 6531(1) applied to the levy counts, because it applies to “all offenses where fraud is an essential element.” Section 7206(4), titled “Removal or concealment with intent to defraud,” fell “under the umbrella of § 6531(1).”