Johnson v. US

• Decision Date: 28 July 1987
• Docket Number: No. CV-86-1499.,CV-86-1499.
• Citation: 680 F. Supp. 508
• Parties: Richard J. JOHNSON, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

680 F. Supp. 508

Richard J. JOHNSON, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.

No. CV-86-1499.

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

July 28, 1987.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Richard J. Johnson, pro se.

Andrew J. Maloney, U.S. Atty., Brooklyn, N.Y., Anne E. Stanley, Asst. U.S. Atty., Kenneth C. Brown, Trial Atty., Tax Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

MISHLER, District Judge.

Plaintiff, pro se, Richard J. Johnson ("Johnson"), brings this action alleging various common law tort and constitutional violations by the United States and Thomas P. Coleman ("Coleman"), former Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") District Director for the Brooklyn District, arising from a review of plaintiff's 1981 and 1982 income tax returns and seven W-4 forms submitted by the plaintiff between January 1981 and August 1982. Plaintiff seeks $500,000 in punitive damages for constitutional violations, $20,000 in compensatory damages, an injunction restraining the United States from assessing or collecting any tax deficiencies, fines, interest and penalties relating to his 1981 and 1982 income taxes, an order directing the IRS to issue refund checks plus interest to plaintiff for the years 1981 through 1984, and all court costs.

The defendants now move pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b) for an order dismissing plaintiff's complaint, or, alternatively, an order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 granting summary judgment to the defendants. The defendants argue inter alia that Johnson's claims against the United States are barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity and the Anti-Injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a), and that Coleman is immune from suit for the common law tort and constitutional violations asserted by Johnson.

FACTS

This action arises from the review by the IRS of seven Form W-4s, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificates, submitted by Johnson and audits by the IRS of Johnson's 1981 and 1982 federal income tax returns. Johnson, who is married and has 5 children, submitted seven W-4 Withholding Certificates to his employer between January 1981 and August 1982 claiming 25, 23, 26, 26, 26, 26 and 14 withholding allowances. Johnson claims that he was entitled to the allowances listed based on his family (7 deductions) and what he claims were valid tax-deductible charitable contributions to the Universal Life Church.

The IRS notified Johnson by letter on October 30, 1981, and several additional times during the next two years that it was reviewing his W-4s and required more information to determine if the number of withholding allowances claimed was correct. Johnson responded to all of the requests and sent documents including his marriage certificate, his children's birth certificates and copies of cancelled checks of donations made to the Universal Life Church. Based on the submitted information, between January 1982 and March 1983, the IRS adjusted the number of withholding allowances, ranging from one, two, twelve and fourteen. Plaintiff was also assessed two $500 penalties for filing false information regarding withholding allowances.¹

Johnson wrote several times to the IRS district office, asking for an explanation for the penalties assessed. Johnson claims that his many requests for clarification or for meetings to discuss the nature of the penalties did not receive satisfactory responses.

In October 1982, Johnson received notice that his 1981 tax return would be audited, and was asked to produce documents supporting claimed charitable contributions. At the audit, which was conducted on April 13, 1983 by Revenue Agent Linda Ratushenko at the IRS district office in Brooklyn, and which concentrated on Johnson's deduction of $12,657 as a charitable contribution to the Universal Life Church, Johnson refused to answer Ratushenko's questions about the control of church funds and whether he derived any benefits from the contribution.² The deduction was therefore disallowed and an assessment for an additional $2,117 in tax for 1981 was made. Johnson did not petition Tax Court within the allotted 90 days for a redetermination.³

In October, 1985, plaintiff's 1982 federal tax return was selected for audit. The examination was conducted by mail correspondence and telephone between February 18-24, 1986, by Agent Elizabeth Helwege. As a result of supporting documentation, plaintiff's claims for a uniform deduction (plaintiff is a New York City police officer) and $157 in charitable contributions were allowed, but his deduction of $12,925 for contributions to the Universal Life Church was disallowed on the grounds that the church had lost tax exempt status and that Johnson had received a "housing allowance" benefit from the contributions.

Subsequently, Johnson requested conferences with Helwege's supervisor but these requests were denied. However, the case was forwarded to the Appeals Office in Carle Place. Appeals Officer Errol March contacted Johnson in May, 1986 to schedule a conference. Johnson replied that there was no need for an appeals conference since he had incorporated the disputed issues into this lawsuit. March then returned the case to the Brooklyn District Office for issuance of a statutory notice of deficiency. Johnson did not petition Tax Court for a redetermination during the 90 day period following.

Johnson filed the complaint in this action on May 6, 1986 claiming essentially that the IRS, Coleman and other IRS employees had conspired to deprive him of his first amendment rights by disallowing his W-4 withholding allowances and auditing his 1981 and 1982 tax returns solely because of his affiliation with and contributions to the Universal Life Church.

Plaintiff also alleges that the IRS conspired to deny him due process under the fourteenth amendment by refusing to allow him to prove his entitlement to charitable contribution deductions on his 1981 and 1982 tax returns and by failing to adequately respond to his requests for clarification. Plaintiff has not paid any of the W-4 penalties or tax deficiencies on his 1981 and 1982 tax returns. Refunds that he claims are due for 1981-1984 have been "frozen" by the IRS pending the determination of his case.

DISCUSSION

Request for Injunctive Relief

Johnson seeks an injunction restraining and enjoining the United States from assessing and collecting any tax deficiencies, interest or penalties arising from his 1981 and 1982 tax years (Complaint p. 15). This court is without jurisdiction to grant the injunctive relief requested. The Anti-Injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a) provides, with few exceptions not relevant here,⁴ that "no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed."

Essentially, this statute prohibits any suit which would enjoin the assessing or collecting of taxes. Its purpose is to protect the government's ability "to assess and collect taxes alleged to be due without judicial intervention, and to require that the legal right to the disputed sums be determined in a suit for refund." Enochs v. Williams Packing & Navigation Co., 370 U.S. 1, 7, 82 S.Ct. 1125, 1129, 8 L.Ed.2d 292 (1962).

The Anti-Injunction Act applies to any suit seeking to restrain the assessment or collection of any tax, whether the restraint is a collateral effect or the main purpose of the lawsuit. Alexander v. "Americans United" Inc., 416 U.S. 752, 760-61, 94 S.Ct. 2053, 2058, 40 L.Ed.2d 518 (1974); Bob Jones University v. Simon, 416 U.S. 725, 738, 94 S.Ct. 2038, 2046-47, 40 L.Ed.2d 496 (1974). The constitutional nature of a taxpayer's claim is of no consequence under the Anti-Injunction Act. Alexander v. "Americans United" Inc., supra, 416 U.S. at 759, 94 S.Ct. at 2058; Jacobson v. Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice, 544 F.2d 637, 639 (2d Cir.1976). If an action is barred by the Anti-Injunction Act the District Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and the complaint must be dismissed. Enochs v. Williams Packing & Navigation Co., supra, 370 U.S. at 7, 82 S.Ct. at 1129.

The Supreme Court has given the Anti-Injunction Act almost literal effect. Bob Jones University v. Simon, supra, 416 U.S. at 737, 94 S.Ct. at 2046. The Court articulated the only judicially created exception to the Anti-Injunction Act in Enochs v. Williams Packing & Navigation Co., supra.⁵ Under the Williams Packing exception, an injunction suit to restrain the assessing or collecting of taxes may be permitted only "if it is clear that under no circumstances could the government ultimately prevail," and "if equity jurisdiction otherwise exists," i.e., if the taxpayer can demonstrate that he would suffer irreparable harm if collection was not enjoined. Id. 370 U.S. at 6-7, 82 S.Ct. at 1128-29. See South Carolina v. Regan, 465 U.S. 367, 374, 104 S.Ct. 1107, 1112, 79 L.Ed.2d 372 (1984); Bob Jones University v. Simon, supra, 416 U.S. at 737, 94 S.Ct. at 2046.

The stringent nature of the Williams Packing test places a heavy burden on a taxpayer seeking to avoid the bar of the Anti-Injunction Act. See Bob Jones University v. Simon, supra, 416 U.S. at 737, 94 S.Ct. at 2046. The suit for injunction may be maintained only if it is clear under the most liberal view of the law and facts that the government cannot possibly establish its claim. Enochs v. Williams Packing & Navigation Co., supra, 370 U.S. at 7, 82 S.Ct. at 1129. The determination of whether the government has a chance of ultimately prevailing must be made on the basis of the information available to it at the time of the suit. Id.

In the instant case, Johnson claims that the government cannot ultimately prevail because it has acted in bad faith toward him. However, mere allegations of bad faith, harassment or even deprivation of constitutional rights are not sufficient to show...