Wogoman v. IRS (In re Wogoman)

Summarized by Scottie Kleypas , Scottie S. Kleypas Law, LLC
13 years 8 months ago

Citation:

Wogoman v. IRS (In re Wogoman), BAP No. CO-11-084 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. July 3, 2012)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

AFFIRMING the Bankruptcy Court, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit held Section 523(a)(1)(B)(i) excepts from discharge any debt for a tax with respect to which a return was not filed, and the § 523(a)(*) hanging paragraph provides that “the term ‘return’ means a return that satisfies the requirements of applicable nonbankruptcy law (including applicable filing requirements).” Debtors Form 1040 filed post-assessment is not a return making the tax liability nondischargeable.

Procedural context:

Chapter 7 Debtors filed a complaint against the IRS to determine the dischargeability of their federal income taxes. The Bankruptcy Court determined on summary judgment that Debtors tax liability was not dischargeable. The issue on appeal was whether the Form 1040 filed by the Debtors 17 months after the IRS had determined and assessed their taxes is a "return" for purposes of exception to discharge. Since the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has not addressed this issue post-BAPCPA, the BAP applied three alternative interpretations of the statue, setting forth a detailed analysis under each rule and concluding that regardless of which rule was applied to the facts, the return filed does not meet the applicable filing requirements and is not a "return" for purposes of discharge.

Facts:

Chapter 7 Debtors, without any reason for their delay, did not file their 2001 federal tax return until August 2006, after the IRS determined tax liability, provided statutory notice of deficiency, assessed the taxes, and commenced collection actions. Debtors & IRS entered into an installment agreement in March 2007 and Debtor made approximately 20 payments under the agreement prior to filing their petition.

Judge(s):

CORINISH, RASURE, and SOMERS

ABI Membership is required to access the full summary. Please Sign In using your ABI Member credentials. Not a Member yet? Join ABI now - it is absolutely worth it!