Sokolow v. United States

169 F.3d 663 (1999)

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Sokolow v. United States

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
169 F.3d 663 (1999)

  • Written by Steven Pacht, JD

Facts

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessed a tax deficiency against Elliot Sokolow (plaintiff). Sokolow disagreed with the assessment, believing that he had a valid statute-of-limitations defense. Rather than pay the tax and sue for a refund, Sokolow sued the United States (defendant), seeking an injunction prohibiting the United States from collecting the assessed tax. The United States moved to dismiss Sokolow’s case on subject-matter-jurisdiction grounds, arguing that the tax Anti-injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a), generally prohibited suits to enjoin the assessment or collection of federal taxes. Sokolow responded that his suit qualified for an equitable exception to the act for cases in which a taxpayer had no remedy other than an injunction. Per Sokolow, this was because the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Lewis v. Reynolds precluded him from asserting his statute-of-limitations defense in a refund suit. The district court dismissed Sokolow’s suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Sokolow appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Leavy, J.)

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Casebooks

Tax Practice and Procedure

Key Terms

  • Statute of LimitationsA specified period of time, usually prescribed by statute, in which a party has to bring a lawsuit after the party has incurred or sustained injury.
  • Subject-Matter JurisdictionA court's power to hear a particular type of case.
  • InjunctionA form of equitable relief in which a party is ordered to perform or refrain from performing a certain act.
  • Equity1. Fairness; justice. 2. The value of a property minus any mortgages or liens on it. 3. A branch of jurisprudence that arose in England as an alternative to the harsh common law, in which courts tried to determine what would be fair in a given situation instead of strictly applying law and precedent. Today in the U.S., courts of law and equity have merged for the most part, but equity still applies in situations where appropriate relief would be an injunction or specific performance instead of monetary damages or there is otherwise no remedy available at law.
  • Burden of PersuasionThe requirement that the party with the burden of proof convince the judge or jury of the validity of her case.
  • DefenseAn allegation that will, if proved to be true, relieve the defendant from an alleged liability.
  • Irreparable HarmHarm that cannot be quantified or compensated with monetary damages, and which may justify injunctive relief.
  • Income TaxA tax imposed on a person’s or entity’s income, in distinction to other types of taxes, such as transfer taxes or property taxes.
  • Tax Refund ClaimA mechanism by which a taxpayer may seek a refund for overpayment of taxes from the federal government.
  • Anti-Injunction Act (Tax)Federal statute, codified at 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a), that prohibits federal and state courts from entertaining a suit seeking an injunction against the assessment or collection of any tax.

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