635 F. Supp. 585 | E.D. La. | 1986
At issue before the Court is the question of whether a jeopardy assessment made by the Internal Revenue Service should be set aside.
On January 30, 1986 a jeopardy assessment for income tax deficiencies in the amount of $29,478,718.00 was made against Adler B. Seal, regarding tax deficiencies allegedly due for the taxable years 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Before his death, Mr. Seal was extensively involved in smuggling illicit and illegal drugs into the United States. He was a criminal character. He was the subject of two convictions in federal courts in Florida and in 1984 he was sentenced to a ten year prison term (which was later reduced to time served plus a term for probation as a result of his apparent cooperation with law enforcement authorities). In January, 1985 Seal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and to violation of currency reporting laws in Louisiana.
His confrontations with the criminal justice system were colorful and widespread. Mr. Seal’s lifestyle was flamboyant and eccentric; it was constantly beyond the limits of the law, and that is the backdrop against which the assessment must be considered.
During the taxable years 1981, 1982 and 1983, according to the Internal Revenue Service, Seal earned in excess of approximately $20 million from illicit drug smuggling activities. He only reported income in excess of $1 million for the same period. He owned at least four different types of aircraft. According to the evidence, he may have owned at least three boats through the use of nominees in the Cayman Islands and Panama; one boat alone was valued at nearly $700,000. He used several aliases during the last part of his life before he was killed, and he possessed a Honduran passport.
The law is clear. Under Section 7429 of the Internal Revenue Code, it is the obligation of this Court to make a de novo determination as to whether the making of the assessment by the Internal Revenue Service is reasonable under the circumstances, and whether the amount assessed is appropriate under the circumstances.
The Court finds from the evidence that the jeopardy assessment levied against Mr. Seal was reasonable under the circumstances, for the following reasons. Adler B. Seal participated on a large scale basis in drug smuggling operations.
For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that the jeopardy assessment levied by the Government on January 30, 1986 was reasonable under the circum
The plaintiff has the burden of proof on the issue of the appropriateness of the amount of the assessment. 26 U.S.C. § 7429(g). Further, plaintiff must overcome a presumption that the amount assessed is reasonable. Revis v. United States, 558 F.Supp. 1071 (D.R.I.1983). Plaintiff has not shown that the method of computation of the potential tax liability was factually defective, irrational, arbitrary or unsupported. Indeed, this Court’s review of Mr. Seal’s testimony under oath before the President’s Commission on Organized Crime and his testimony under oath during drug smuggling proceedings against him in Florida would suggest to the Court, although it is not the responsibility of this Court to decide, that there is at least a sense of credibility and correctness regarding the proposed computation of the deficiency assessment made against Mr. Seal and now made against his estate by the Internal Revenue Service.
Evidence gathered and presented to this Court touching upon Mr. Seal’s activities and brought to the attention of the Internal Revenue Service even subsequent to the levying of the jeopardy assessment indicates that, considering all of the circumstances mentioned earlier, the making of the assessment was reasonable under established judicial decisions, and plaintiff has failed to establish the inappropriateness of the amount of the assessment.
Finally, Mr. Seal’s unfortunate death does not change the focal point of this Court’s inquiry: whether or not the making of the jeopardy assessment at the time it was made was reasonable under the circumstances? See Patrick v. United States, 524 F.2d 1109 (7 Cir.1975). Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, the Complaint of plaintiff is dismissed with prejudice and each party is ordered to bear their own costs.
. No appeal from this proceeding is provided by law. 26 U.S.C. § 7429(f).
. The jeopardy assessment was made pursuant to the request and recommendation of Internal Revenue Service agents, and the recommendation was processed and reviewed through the regular and usual channels; it was approved at all appropriate bureaucratic levels of authority. By letter dated February 4, 1986, the taxpayer was given notice of the jeopardy assessment, was advised of his administrative and judicial review rights, and was furnished with a written statement explaining the reasons for the assessment against him and the computation of the tax. The letter and statement given to him satisfied the requirement of law that the taxpayer be given a written statement setting forth the reasons for the action proposed against him within five days of the date of the assessment. 26 U.S.C. § 7429(a). Mr. Seal was apparently murdered on February 19, 1986, less than one month after the jeopardy assessment was made.
. The passport was issued in 1984 under unclear circumstances.
. This Court has jurisdiction of this action by virtue of the provisions of § 7429(b) of the Internal Revenue Code and Title 28 of the United States Code § 1346(e). This Court does not, however, have jurisdiction over the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, but the lack of that jurisdiction is not meaningful with
. Mr. Seal was such an important character in the drug smuggling universe that he was invited to testify before the President’s Commission on Organized Crime. Much of the Government's information regarding his illicit income came from his own testimony before that Commission, under oath.
. Whether or not the Government relied on surgically precise information when the jeopardy assessment was made is not the touchstone issue in this proceeding. See Kerness v. United States, 48 A.F.T.R.2d 81-5604 (D.Minn.1981). The Service is not held to such a strict standard when collection of tax is in jeopardy.