Friday, September 17, 2004
This month’s “Shop Talk” column in the Journal of Taxation has an interesting item about In re Rivera Torres, 309 B.R. 643 (1st Cir. Bankruptcy App. Panel 2004), in which the court awarded a taxpayer $10,000 for “emotional distress” inflicted by the IRS. After the bankruptcy court discharged a married couple’s debts, including a $22,000 tax liability, the IRS repeatedly tried to collect on the discharged debt. In awarding the $10,000 damages against the IRS, the court considered the testimony offered by the couple about the emotional damages they suffered from the IRS’s aggressive collection tactics. The column concludes:
Unfortunately, [the case] provides little support for stressed-out taxpayers dealing with the IRS prior to their bankruptcies….[W]e hope that other taxpayers don’t have to become bankrupt before they can recover damages from [the] IRS in “traumatic” situations.
2 responses to “Court Awards $10,000 for Emotional Distress Inflicted by IRS”
IRS ordered to pay damages for taxpayer’s emotional distress
Now here’s a case you might think would really open the floodgates: Prof. Paul Caron of the University of Cincinnati reports at TaxProf (Sept. 17) that a court has ordered the Internal Revenue Service to pay a taxpayer $10,000 for…
Wrongful Arbitration and Emotional Stress Damages from Agressive Collection
Many normal American households are lulled into the social norms of credit cards and debt. Everyone has a credit card, or so we think. How many of your neighbors do you think own their homes free and clear? Ask any American, and the answer is clear, we be