{"id":3738,"date":"2020-01-08T08:39:36","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T13:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/?p=3738"},"modified":"2020-01-08T08:39:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T13:39:37","slug":"novel-argument-that-irs-collections-violated-consumer-fraud-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/novel-argument-that-irs-collections-violated-consumer-fraud-law\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNovel\u201d Argument that IRS Collections Violated Consumer Fraud Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Taxpayer Argues that IRS Is Subject to Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward T. Kennedy<\/em> (2018-1 U.S.T.C. \u00b650,290) claimed that the\nIRS’s conduct when it assessed him for unpaid taxes violated federal consumer\nprotection law and requested that the IRS accept his request for audit\nreconsideration. In addition to suing the IRS, Kennedy suit included the\nCommissioner of the Department of Treasury, \u201cJohn Doe\u201d an unnamed employee of\nthe IRS, Equifax, and the CEO of Equifax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy also sought damages for the intentional infliction of emotional\ndistress and loss of reputation with respect to the collection of his federal\nincome tax liability. The individual claimed that he suffered intentional emotional\ndistress because he received a letter from the IRS informing him that he owed\n$75,957.35 in unpaid taxes and that the IRS threatened to levy against his\nsocial security benefits to collect the unpaid taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Court Findings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court found\nthat the FDCPA expressly excludes and does not apply to an IRS officer\nperforming his official duties. Moreover, the federal tax obligations were not\nconsidered “debts” under FDCPA because they do not arise\nout of a consumer transaction. Additionally, the taxpayer’s argument that the IRS was not\nlicensed to collect debts in the state of Pennsylvania was considered\nfrivolous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court\ndismissed the claims against Equifax and its CEO because the claims against\nthose parties had been dismissed in another lawsuit that Kennedy had previously\nfiled. Thus, the court had only to be concerned about the claims against the\nIRS and the unnamed IRS employee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a taxpayer\nsues an IRS employee acting in his official capacity, it has been long\nestablished that he is suing the U.S. Government. The\nindividual clearly sought damages for the IRS\u2019s collection activities and while\nthe Federal Tort Claims Act (FATCA) waives immunity for many governmental acts,\nit expressly maintains immunity for cases arising from the assessment or\ncollection of taxes. The court found that the government had not waived its immunity\nfrom tort suits and that no taxpayer may sue the U.S. with respect to the\nassessment or collection of any tax. Thus, that part of Kennedy\u2019s suit was\ndismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With respect to\nthe emotional distress argument, the court dismissed it because as\ndiscussed above, the government did not waive its immunity from suit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court agreed with the IRS that it did not have to accept the taxpayer\u2019s request for audit reconsideration because the taxpayer failed to provide evidence of an intervening change in the law, new evidence or a clear error of law.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you would like to discuss your business or personal tax planning<\/a>, tax preparation<\/a> and other financial concerns with an experienced tax professional, we invite you to call 610-594-2601<\/a> today to make an appointment at our Exton PA CPA office<\/a> to discuss your situation. You can also schedule a consultation at Click Here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2020 Keystone Financial Solutions, Inc.  All rights reserved. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BE SURE TO READ THE DISCLAIMER PAGE: Tax laws, IRS rules and regulations change frequently<\/strong>. Although we hope you’ll find this information helpful, this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as the rendering of tax, legal or investment advice. The publisher shall not assume liability for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About F. Bryan Haarlander, EA, CTRS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryan\nHaarlander is an IRS licensed Enrolled Agent and who owns and operates a\nspecialized tax services firm serving clients in the western suburbs of\nPhiladelphia, PA, which includes the cities of Chester Springs, Coatesville,\nCollegeville, Devon, Downingtown, Exton, Frazer, King of Prussia, Paoli, Philadelphia,\nPhoenixville, Pottstown, Radnor, Reading, Wayne, West Chester in Berks,\nChester,  Delaware, Montgomery and\nPhiladelphia Counties, as well as clients in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and\nthroughout the continental USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Certified Tax Resolution Specialist, Bryan is well-known for his IRS tax resolution expertise and his book How to Resolve Your IRS Tax Debt Problems. <\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taxpayer Argues that IRS Is Subject to Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) Background Edward T. Kennedy (2018-1 U.S.T.C. \u00b650,290) claimed that the IRS’s conduct when it assessed him for unpaid taxes violated federal consumer protection law and requested that the IRS accept his request for audit reconsideration. In addition to suing the IRS, Kennedy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[132,69,73,63,33,34,21,64,71,31,72,66,23,41,65,32,40,39,67,68,38,70,151,37,36,35,150,42,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-3738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-irs-tax-planning-ideas-tips-news","7":"tag-accuracy-related-penalty","8":"tag-audits","9":"tag-bankruptcy","10":"tag-bryan-haarlander","11":"tag-chester-county-cpa","12":"tag-exton-accountant","13":"tag-exton-cpa","14":"tag-f-bryan-haarlander","15":"tag-first-time-abatement","16":"tag-frank-haarlander","17":"tag-innocent-spouse","18":"tag-installment-agreements","19":"tag-irs","20":"tag-irs-tax-debts","21":"tag-irs-tax-payments","22":"tag-keystone-financial-solutions","23":"tag-offer-in-compromise","24":"tag-oic","25":"tag-partial-installment-agreements","26":"tag-penalty-abatement","27":"tag-philadelphia-cpa","28":"tag-reasonable-cause","29":"tag-tax-adviser-near-me","30":"tag-tax-blog","31":"tag-tax-expert","32":"tag-tax-planning","33":"tag-tax-professional-near-me","34":"tag-tax-resolution","35":"tag-west-chester-cpa","36":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9W9tf-Yi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3738"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3781,"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3738\/revisions\/3781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keysolutions.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}