Sampsell

This case arose from the consolidation of thirty bankruptcy estates. Paul W. Sampsell, the respondent herein, is trustee for all thirty estates. He is acting for four referees among whom the cases were assigned by four judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The California State Board of Equalization has from time to time claimed the right to collect the state sales and use taxes upon sales made by trustees in the liquidation of bankruptcy estates. See State Board of Equalization v. Boteler, 9 Cir., 1942, 131 F.2d 386 ; California State Board of Equalization v. Goggin, 9 Cir., 1951, 191 F.2d 726 . In this case, the Board did not assert a claim for sales taxes on the sales made by the trustee in the liquidation of the thirty bankruptcy estates herein involved. However, the trustee was unwilling to distribute the funds of the various estates for fear that he might later be charged by the Board with personal liability for the non-payment of the state taxes. In these circumstances the trustee petitioned the referee in each estate to issue an order commanding the Board within twenty days to file a verified claim for the payment of the sales…