Summary
affirming dismissal of taxpayers' constitutional claim on grounds that Section 7433 provided exclusive remedy for improper IRS collection efforts, such as filing of allegedly frivolous tax lien
Summary of this case from Sande v. U.S.Opinion
No. 97-4378
Submitted June 4, 1998
Decided July 2, 1998
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.
Theodore M. Doolittle, Ann B. Durney, on the brief, for Appellee.
Before McMILLIAN, LOKEN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
Kerwin James Miller and Mona Lea Miller sued Internal Revenue Service employee Timothy Sherrill, alleging Sherrill violated their constitutional rights in connection with his tax-collection efforts by filing a "frivolous" tax lien. The district court granted Sherrill's motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim, and the Millers appeal. In their pro se appellate brief, the Millers argue at length that the existence of uncertainty surrounding federal income tax laws and the nature of income, specifically concerning whether the federal income tax is an unconstitutional direct tax which must be apportioned, creates a due process problem in the enforcement of the tax code. They also question whether the tax code applies to them.
The Honorable John B. Jones, United States District Judge for the District of South Dakota.
After reviewing the record, we conclude that there is no basis for the Millers' action against Sherrill. We note that 26 U.S.C. § 7433 provides the Millers' exclusive remedy for the reckless or intentional disregard of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to collection activities, and the Millers did not state a claim. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court. We also grant Sherrill's motion for sanctions in the amount of $500 because arguments similar to those asserted by the Millers on appeal have been rejected repeatedly by the courts, see United States v. Gerads, 999 F.2d 1255, 1256 (8th Cir. 1993) (per curiam), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1193 (1994). See Fed.R.App.P. 38.