Justia U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

This case stemmed from a bankruptcy appeal of a tax debt owed by debtor to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The bankruptcy court and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) found that the debt was not excepted from discharge in debtor's Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. At issue was whether, as a consequence of debtor's prior Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case, the lookback period was suspended and the tax debt was not discharged. The court held that when the bankruptcy court confirmed debtor and debtor's husband's Chapter 13 plan, the estate property revested in debtor and became debtor's property, thus lifting the applicable stay provisions. Since this revesting occurred before the tax debt became due, no stay precluded the FTB from collection on the debt under 11 U.S.C. 362. Consequently, the tax debt was not excepted from the Chapter 7 discharge, and the principles of equitable tolling did not apply to extend the lookback period as the FTB was neither precluded from collecting on the tax debt nor did it actively try to protect its claim. Accordingly, the court held that the debt was discharged and affirmed the BAP.

Debtor filed a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy petition in 1998 and submitted a plan of reorganization ("Plan"), continuing to operate as a debtor-in-possession. Article X of the confirmed Plan provided for the discharge of all debts pursuant to which debtor was the "primary obligor." In 2007, the IRS contacted debtor's principal officers regarding potential assessment of a Trust Fund Recovery Penalty ("TFRP") pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 6672. At issue was whether the collection of a TFRP from the principal officers violated the express terms of Article X discharging such claims. The court affirmed the bankruptcy court's dismissal of the action for lack of jurisdiction where the relief sought by debtor would effectively preclude the IRS's collection of a section 6672 assessment and therefore, fell squarely within the reach of the Anti-Injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. 7421(a), and the court's holding in American Bicycle Ass'n v. United States. The court also held that, in light of the well-established principle that section 6672 liability was a separate and distinct liability, the court agreed with the bankruptcy court's alternative holding that, although a corporation could be the primary obligor on its own underlying tax obligation, it was not the primary obligor on the separate and distinct assessment under section 6672. Rather, the corporate officers were the primary obligors on the TFRP liabilities, as these liabilities were assessed independently under section 6672 for the officers' own willful conduct. Accordingly, the judgment of the bankruptcy court was affirmed.