United States v. Stanford Robert Poll

Appellant was charged in a two-count indictment for willfully causing P. B. Industries, Inc., a corporation of which he was president, to fail to truthfully account for and pay over employees’ federal income withholding taxes on wages and social security (FICA) taxes for the first two quarters of 1973 in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7202 . That section is as follows:

The case was tried on stipulated facts and appellant was convicted on both counts. The stipulation is set out in the margin. Appellant here contends that § 7202 requires proof of both a willful failure to truthfully account and a willful failure to pay over and argues that his failure to pay over cannot be considered “willful” in light of his offer to prove that the corporation lacked the liquid resources to pay the full amounts due and that he intended to make up the deficiencies later.

The district court denied the offer of proof and held that the stipulation established a violation of § 7202. The memorandum decision of the district court states:

These actions raise two questions: viz. whether the foregoing definition of “willfully” is correct and whether the evidence offered to rebut the presence of…