Court Opinion

ID: 9650038
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:21:25.414412+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:17.572704
License: Public Domain

MO OREM AN, Bankruptcy Judge,
dissenting.
I am unable to agree with the majority’s disposition in the instant case. The bankruptcy court determined that the personal liability imposed upon the debtor pursuant to Cal.Rev. & Tax Code § 6829 (hereinafter § 6829), was an “excise tax” under 11 U.S. C. § 507(a)(7)(E) and was therefore nondis-chargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(1). As a relatively new statute, there is virtually no ease law directly addressing the issue before this Panel, and in essence this is tantamount to a test case.1
It is well recognized that § 523 entails specific federal causes of action for holding certain debts nondischargeable. Such debts include certain taxes as set forth in § 507(a)(7). See 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1). Within § 507(a)(7), subsection (E) pertains exclusively to certain “excise taxes.” Excise taxes are generally defined as a “tax” on the privilege of conducting a retail business measured by the gross receipts from sales, or in other words a “transactional tax.” These taxes are ultimately passed on to the consumer. See, e.g., Livingston Rock & Gravel Co., Inc. v. DeSalvo, 136 Cal.App.2d 156, 288 P.2d 317 (1955); Cal. Rev. & Tax Code §§ 6051, 6066, 6067. Such excise taxes are ultimately imposed upon the entity or individual actually conducting the retail business. The debtor in the instant case was not such an entity, rather, the debt sought to be declared non-dischargeable arose out of the personal liability imposed upon the debtor by state statute.
There is absolutely no language within, or legislative history regarding §§ 507(a)(7)(E) or 523(a)(1) which would indicate that Congress intended the personal liability of a corporate officer to fall within the scope of § 507(a)(7)(E), or within the *722notion of nondischargeable debts set forth in § 523(a)(1).
Indeed, all of the cases cited as analogous by the majority disposition which dealt with the issue of nondischargeability, involved taxes generally determined to be “trust fund taxes ”2 pursuant to § 507(a)(7)(C). Section 507(a)(7)(C), however, is expressly distinguishable from § 507(a)(7)(E), because it specifically includes those taxes “for which the debtor is liable in whatever capacity.” 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(7)(C) (emphasis added); see also S.Rep. No. 95-989, 95th Cong, 2d Sess. 71-72 (1978), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 1978, pp. 5787, 5857-5858 (discussing the liability of responsible corporate officers under this subsection for trust fund taxes). Thus, the cases relied upon by the majority are distinguishable and do not support the bankruptcy court’s determination of nondischargeability.
Without some indication that Congress intended the personal ' liability of corporate officers for the payment of excise taxes under § 507(a)(7)(E), to be held nondis-chargeable, I am unable to join in the extension of § 523 liability proposed by the majority’s disposition. Under such an extension, the effect of § 6829 is to create a nondischargeable debt based solely on a state statute3 and contrary to the recognized notion that § 523 nondischargeability involves specific federal causes of action. E.g. In re Fulwiler, 624 F.2d 908, 910 (9th Cir.1980).

. The appellants state that the issues of "control or supervision of filing returns" and "willfulness" behind the failure to pay the tax, were not before the trial court and that the appellants are protected by their right to appeal the appellee’s allegations of willfulness in state court.

. "Trust fund taxes” generally include wage withholding taxes whether state or federal.

. Reliance on state statutes creating nondis-chargeable debts will also lead to un-uniform application of § 523 depending on whether the respective state enacts such a provision.