The Supreme Court ruled that the Internal Revenue Service does not have to notify bank account holders before requesting their records if efforts are aimed at collecting someone else’s delinquent taxes. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the decision, which exempts the agency from giving notice when a summons is issued to help collect a tax assessment.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t have to notify bank account holders before requesting their records if efforts are geared toward collecting someone else’s delinquent taxes.
The IRS is given broad authority under tax code Section 7609(c)(2)(D), which exempts the agency from giving notice when a summons is issued to help collect a tax assessment “against the person with respect to whose liability the summons is issued,” according to the unanimous high court.
The decision was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, his first opinion out of the 25 decisions released so far this year.
“For as long as Americans have had to pay taxes, at least some have tried to avoid them. And for as long as Americans have avoided taxes, the Internal Revenue Service and its predecessors have tried to collect them. As an old joke goes: ‘I believe we should all pay taxes with a smile. I tried, but they wanted cash,'” Roberts wrote.
Even if a delinquent taxpayer doesn’t have a legal interest in the targeted records, the agency can still request records from third-party recordkeepers without first giving those keepers notice.