Graham v. United States

• Decision Date: 29 April 1957
• Docket Number: No. 14965.,14965.
• Citation: 243 F.2d 919
• Parties: Warren C. GRAHAM and Agnes B. Graham, His Wife, and Catherine Young Cobb, Appellants. v. UNITED STATES of America, State of California, City of Oakland and County of Alameda, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

243 F.2d 919 (1957)

Warren C. GRAHAM and Agnes B. Graham, His Wife, and Catherine Young Cobb, Appellants. v. UNITED STATES of America, State of California, City of Oakland and County of Alameda, Appellees.

No. 14965.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

April 29, 1957.

Schofield, Hanson & Jenkins, Thomas M. Jenkins, San Francisco, Cal., for appellants.

Charles K. Rice, Asst. Atty. Gen., Joseph F. Goetten, Atty., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Lloyd H. Burke, U. S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., James E. Sabine, Ernest P. Goodman, Deputy Attys. Gen., State of California, John W. Collier, City Atty., City of Oakland, Oakland, Cal., J. F. Coakley, Dist. Atty., County of Alameda, Oakland, Cal., for appellees.

Before STEPHENS, BONE and POPE, Circuit Judges.

BONE, Circuit Judge.

The United States (hereafter "Government") commenced this action in the District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division, to foreclose alleged Federal tax liens. 26 U.S. C.A. (I.R.C.1939) § 3678. A judgment for the Government establishing liens and decree of foreclosure and order of sale was entered September 14, 1955. Appellants appeal from this judgment.

The taxes sought to be collected are Federal income and excess profits taxes for the year 1942 assessed against each of the Grahams as transferees of the Kincaid Company in the Second District of New York, which assessments were transferred to the Collector of Internal Revenue, San Francisco; withholding and Federal insurance contribution taxes, penalties and interest for the four quarters of the calendar year 1945 and the first three quarters of the calendar year 1946 in the aggregate amount of $542,706.95 against Warren C. Graham and Agnes B. Graham, doing business as Graham Ship Repair Company; and Federal income taxes for the years 1945 and 1946 against Warren C. Graham and Agnes B. Graham in the amount of $1,139,375.86.¹ The value of the property sought to be sold by lien foreclosure in this proceeding is approximately $30,000. The State of California, the County of Alameda and the City of Oakland asserted claims against the property and the district court determined the priorities of all the claims.

On this appeal appellants present three claims of error: (1) error by the trial court in excluding evidence challenging the validity of the Government lien for the 1942 taxes sought to be foreclosed in this action and the assessment upon which it is based; (2) error by the trial court in failing to find certain tax collection waivers were signed under duress;² (3) error by the trial court in finding that the transfer of the land sought to be sold by this foreclosure proceeding by the Grahams to Catherine Young Cobb was fraudulent. We discuss these claims below.

As noted above, in their first claim of error, appellants urge that the court erroneously excluded evidence which challenges the validity of the Government lien sought to be foreclosed and the assessment upon which it is based. Appellants Graham had denied in their answer any liability for the (New York) federal transferee taxes, and sought to introduce evidence challenging the validity of the assessments for 1942, upon which liens were based. Appellants further sought to prove during the trial that they received no notice of the 1942 assessment, and that the 90 day letter, as provided for in 26 U.S.C.A. (I.R.C.1939) § 272(a), was not communicated to them. This evidence was excluded by the trial judge for the reason that in a prior case, United States v. Graham, D.C.S.D.Cal. 1951, 96 F.Supp. 318, affirmed sub. nom. State of California v. United States, 9 Cir., 1952, 195 F.2d 530, certiorari denied 1952, 344 U.S. 831, 73 S.Ct. 36, 97 L. Ed. 647, liens arising from the 1942 assessments had been foreclosed, and that the assessments and liens arising thereunder must be considered valid. We believe this ruling was correct.

The record of the prior case on appeal in this Court shows that the Grahams were parties defendant thereto, and that the trial court found assessments for Federal income and excess profits taxes were made against the Grahams, as transferees of the Kincaid Company for the year 1942; that tax liens arose on property of the Grahams. The trial court ordered foreclosure of these liens by sale of the property. The issue of validity of the assessments for 1942 Federal income and excess profits taxes was, or could have been and should have been, litigated and decided in this prior case, and may not be litigated here. Cory v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 3 Cir., 1947, 159 F.2d 391, 392; Gunter v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., 1906, 200 U.S. 273, 290, 26 S.Ct. 252, 50 L.Ed. 477.

In the trial court, appellants contended that even should the Grahams be foreclosed by the prior case to question the assessments for the 1942 taxes and the lien arising thereunder, Catherine Young Cobb could properly raise the issue as she was not a party to the prior proceeding. Though Catherine Young Cobb may not be bound by the judgment in the prior case, we believe that she cannot question the assessments and liens for the 1942 taxes, and we so hold.

We believe that only the taxpayer may question the assessment for taxes, and assert noncompliance by the Commissioner in sending the taxpayer a notice of deficiency by registered mail. The purpose of 26 U.S.C.A. (I.R.C.1939) § 272(a) (1) is to give the taxpayer notice that the Commissioner intends to assess a deficiency tax, and to give the taxpayer an opportunity to have the Commissioner's ruling reviewed by the Tax Court before it finally becomes effective. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Stewart, 6 Cir., 1951, 186 F.2d 239. This right to review the tax deficiency assessment seems to us to be peculiarly personal to the taxpayer, and equally so, it would seem, is the right to show non-compliance by the Commissioner in mailing to taxpayer the 90 day letter, which is to give taxpayer the opportunity, if he wishes, to review the assessment. A tax assessment may not be collaterally attacked. Commercial Credit Corporation v. Schwartz, D.C.E. D.Ark.1954, 126 F.Supp. 728, 730, and cases there cited. Equally, we do not believe the Commissioner's compliance or non-compliance with the statute in mailing the 90 day letter should be subject to collateral attack, especially by a third-party, non-delinquent taxpayer. Cf. Petition of Sills, D.C.E.D.N.Y.1953, 115 F.Supp. 239.

The second claim of error is that the trial court erred in not making findings on whether certain "waivers" signed by the Grahams concerning the 1942 taxes were executed under duress. Appellants urge in their brief that "the testimony of the agents of the United States, of course, was in a small way inconsistent with the testimony of appellants." We will not review the evidence; the question we must decide is whether it was error for the trial court not to make a finding on the tendered testimonial issue of "coercion" in procuring the signing of the Tax Collection Waivers which extended time to collect the taxes for 1942 by distraint or by a judicial proceeding to and including December 31, 1952. If the waivers were procured by coercion and invalid, the action to foreclose liens to collect the tax assessments for 1942 would not be timely.³

This Court cannot make findings, Deering-Milliken & Co. v. Modern-Aire of Hollywood, Inc., 9 Cir., 1955, 231 F.2d 623, 627. When there is a failure to make necessary findings this Court will not dismiss the appeal, but ordinarily vacates the judgment and remands the case to the district court for appropriate findings of fact. Irish v. United States, 9 Cir., 1955, 225 F.2d 3. A failure to make findings does not always require remand if a complete understanding of the issues may be had without the aid of separate findings. 5 Moore's Federal Practice, § 52.06 2, pp. 2662-2664 (2nd Ed., 1951); Yanish v. Barber, 9 Cir., 1956, 232 F.2d 939, 947. Government's position is that a complete understanding of the issue may be had without a specific finding on coercion since the court did find valid liens for the taxes involved and ordered foreclosure, which means that the court believed this suit to foreclose was timely filed.

The record on appeal does not indicate that appellants tendered a proposed finding on "coercion." They had testified at trial that the circumstances under which the waivers were executed amounted to "coercion." (See footnote 3.) The record fails to indicate that appellant...