Aroeste

I. Introduction

18 Plaintiffs Alberto and Estella Aroeste sued the United States seeking to recoup 19 penalty payments and to discharge their liability for penalties still outstanding for the non- 20 filing of a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) for the years 2012 21 and 2013 pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 5321. Doc. No. 1 ¶ 9. The FBAR penalties at issue were 22 assessed against the plaintiffs after a three-year administrative audit of their filings for tax 23 years 2011 through 2015. See Doc. No. 1 ¶¶ 11, 40-44. The United States counterclaimed 24 against plaintiffs to recover the balance of unpaid penalties. Doc. No. 11. On September 25 26, 2022, the District Court partially stayed this case pending the Supreme Court’s 26 resolution of United States v. Bittner, 19 F.4th 734 (9th Cir. 2021), cert. granted 142 S. Ct. 27 2833 (2022), on grounds the Bittner decision will control the monetary penalties allegedly 28 owed by plaintiffs to the United States. See Doc. Nos. 24, 25. Notwithstanding the stay, the parties are permitted to litigate the following two issues: “(1) whether Alberto Aroeste was a resident of Mexico under the United States –…