The Internal Revenue Service can impose civil fraud penalties for underpayment of tax without a jury trial, a Louisiana district court ruled.
Norcave Properties LLC argued that the penalties levied against it under under IRC Sections 6662 and 6663 should require a trial under the Seventh Amendment. That claim is barred by the Anti-Injunction Act, Judge James D. Cain Jr. wrote for the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Norcave can’t get around the AIA’s ban on suits to restrain the assessment of tax by claiming it was challenging a penalty, not a tax, Cain said.
“For ...