Joel Joseph v. United States

MEMORANDUM

Joel David Joseph appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his action arising out of an Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) levy to collect unpaid taxes. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, BNSF Ry. Co. v. O’Dea, 572 F.3d 785, 787 (9th Cir.2009), and a dismissal for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), Navarro v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 731 (9th Cir.2001). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Joseph’s claim for damages against the IRS under 26 U.S.C. § 7433 because Joseph failed to allege facts sufficient to show that he pursued an administrative claim before filing his action. See 26 U.S.C. § 7433 (d)(1) (requiring taxpayers to exhaust administrative remedies as a prerequisite to filing an action for damages regarding improper tax collection); 26 C.F.R. § 301.7433 -l(e) (specifying required administrative remedies); Conforte v. United States, 979 F.2d 1375, 1377 (9th Cir.1992) (failure to exhaust administrative remedies under § 7433(d)(1) deprived the court of jurisdiction over a taxpayer’s damages claims regarding improper…