Horton

Petitioners United States of America and Lawnie C. Mayhew, a Special Agent of the Internal Revenue Service, brought this action for enforcement of an Internal Revenue summons under §§ 7402(b) and 7604(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. The summons, issued to respondent Jack Horton, demanded production of certain financial records and work papers of Schonert Construction Inc. [Schonert]. Mr. Horton, at all times relevant to this matter, was the President of Schonert. The alleged purpose of the summons was to determine Schonert’s income tax liability for the years 1974 through 1977.

In response to petitioners’ action, Mr. Horton raised the following questions: 1) whether the summons was issued for the improper purpose of obtaining evidence for a criminal prosecution, 2) whether the government already possessed the information contained in the documents thereby precluding production, 3) whether the government failed to follow administrative steps required by law, 4) whether enforcement of the summons would violate Fourth Amendment rights to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, and 5) whether enforcement of the summons would violate Fifth…