{"id":1565,"date":"2021-04-02T17:22:27","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T21:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=1565"},"modified":"2021-04-02T17:22:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T21:22:27","slug":"u-s-tax-court-rules-against-constitutional-challenge-to-passport-denial-for-delinquent-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/02\/u-s-tax-court-rules-against-constitutional-challenge-to-passport-denial-for-delinquent-taxpayers\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Tax Court Rules Against Constitutional Challenge to Passport Denial for Delinquent Taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On March 30, 2021, the United States Tax Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetaxadviser.com\/content\/dam\/tta\/summaries\/tc-8-rowen.pdf\">granted summary judgment<\/a> to the Internal Revenue Service with respect to a taxpayer debtor\/physician\u2019s constitutional challenge to the IRS\u2019 certification of the delinquent tax debt under IRC, \u00a7 7345.\u00a0 The taxpayer\u2019s outstanding tax balance was close to $500,000 and so the IRS turned to a new tool in its collection toolbox &#8211; \u00a7 7345.1.\u00a0 Under this section, the IRS certified that Robert Rowen, the taxpayer, had a seriously delinquent tax debt to the Treasury secretary, who then transmitted the certification to the State Department.\u00a0 The IRS notified Rowen of the certification.\u00a0 At the time of the suit and the Tax Court\u2019s opinion, the State Department had not taken any action concerning Rowen\u2019s passport.\u00a0 Nevertheless, Rowen petitioned the Tax Court, challenging the IRS\u2019s certification as unconstitutional and a violation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/about-us\/universal-declaration-of-human-rights\">Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Opinion<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The court held that the certification does not deny his right to travel or his rights under the UDHR.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Emin Toro authored the court\u2019s opinion and observed that this is the first time the court has considered the merits of certification <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/26\/7345\">under 26 U.S. \u00a7 7345<\/a>.\u00a0 Judge Toro observed that \u00a77345 was enacted as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fhwa.dot.gov\/fastact\/\">Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0 The opinion explains that the IRS certifies the delinquent tax debt and sends it to the Treasury secretary, who must then transmit the certification to the State Department.\u00a0 The State Department can revoke, deny, or limit a tax delinquent individual\u2019s passport.<\/p>\n<p>The opinion rejected Rowen\u2019s argument that \u00a7 7345 violates his due process rights under the Fifth Amendment since it forbids international travel.\u00a0 Rowen claimed such travel is a fundamental right.\u00a0 The opinion ruled that claim was meritless since the plain text of the statute does not prohibit international travel.\u00a0 The opinion observed that \u00a7 7345 only certifies that an individual has a serious tax delinquency.\u00a0 Thereafter, the State Department makes any passport-related decisions.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0The opinion also rejected Rowen\u2019s claim that \u00a77345 violates his right to travel under the UDHR, since the statute does not impose a limit on the right to travel.<\/p>\n<p>According to the opinion, Rowen\u2019s procedural due process and statute of limitations claims do not have merit because he did not make such arguments in his summary judgment motion.\u00a0 In addition, Rowen to not introduce evidence establishing that the period of limitations has elapsed.\u00a0 The opinion found that the IRS\u2019s certification was not erroneous and that the IRS met the requirements for certification under \u00a7 7345.\u00a0 Hence, the IRS was entitled to summary judgment.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Paige Marvel wrote a concurring opinion, stating that the court\u2019s opinion does not foreclose a constitutional challenge in a future case with appropriate facts and squarely presented arguments to the entire tax collection mechanism created by FAST.<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Clearly the taxpayer\u2019s petition and request for summary judgment were flawed in their efforts to challenge one of the new mechanisms to collect taxes.<\/p>\n<p>The current issue of the IELR will discuss the implications of the case in more detail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On March 30, 2021, the United States Tax Court granted summary judgment to the Internal Revenue Service with respect to a taxpayer debtor\/physician\u2019s constitutional challenge to the IRS\u2019 certification of the delinquent tax debt under IRC, \u00a7 7345.\u00a0 The taxpayer\u2019s outstanding tax balance was close to $500,000 and so the IRS turned to a new [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":[14,164,5,44,65,80,100,99,46],"tags":[218,219],"class_list":{"0":"post-1565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-data-privacy","7":"category-financial-intelligence","8":"category-international-tax-enforcement-cooperation","9":"category-international-tax-regime","10":"category-internationalhumanrights","11":"category-national-security","12":"category-offshore-voluntary-disclosure-program","13":"category-tax-controversy","14":"category-tax-crime-enablers","15":"tag-fixingamericassurfacetransportationact-fast-act","16":"tag-universal-declaration-of-human-rights","17":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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debtor\/physician\u2019s constitutional challenge to the IRS\u2019 certification of the delinquent tax debt under IRC, \u00a7 7345.\u00a0 The taxpayer\u2019s outstanding tax balance was close to $500,000 and so the IRS turned to a new [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/02\/u-s-tax-court-rules-against-constitutional-challenge-to-passport-denial-for-delinquent-taxpayers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-02T21:22:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bruce Zagaris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta 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