United States v. Robert T. Gilleran

OVERVIEW

The Internal Revenue Service appeals from the district court’s order denying its petition to enforce a summons directing Robert T. Gilleran to appear before an IRS revenue agent, pursuant to I.R.C. § 7602, in connection with the IRS’s investigation of Gilleran’s tax liability for 1987 and 1988. We reverse and remand.

DISCUSSION

The district court held that service of an IRS summons by leaving it at the taxpayer’s last and usual place of abode violates the Due Process Clause, unless it is also mailed to the taxpayer at said abode. The district court erred.

The Internal Revenue Code unambiguously authorizes the IRS to serve a summons by leaving it at the taxpayer’s last and usual place of abode, with no requirement that the summons also be mailed to the taxpayer or deposited with a competent person. 26 U.S.C. § 7603 . An IRS summons, however, is not self-enforcing. United States v. Samuels, Kramer & Co., 712 F.2d 1342, 1344 (9th Cir.1983). The IRS must seek enforcement from a federal district court. Id.

To obtain enforcement of the summons, the IRS must first establish its “good faith” by showing: 1) that the summons was issued for a legitimate purpose; 2) that the…