Background
Plaintiffs Kevin Mirch and Marie Claire Mirch filed a First Amended Complaint asserting two claims under Section seven thousand four hundred thirty-three of the Internal Revenue Code regarding unauthorized collection activities. The district court granted the government’s motion to dismiss, ruling that the plaintiffs had not exhausted administrative remedies and that the action was time-barred.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the dismissal de novo. It found that the plaintiffs conceded they failed to file the written claim required by Section thirty point seven four three three point one of the Code of Federal Regulations. The court also determined that the two-year statute of limitations under Section seven thousand four hundred thirty-three of the Internal Revenue Code is jurisdictional. Since the last alleged collection activity occurred in October of two thousand twenty-one and the complaint was filed in April of two thousand twenty-four, the action was untimely. The court noted that jurisdictional statutes of limitations are not subject to equitable tolling.
What it means going forward
Taxpayers must strictly adhere to administrative exhaustion requirements and the two-year filing deadline before suing the government for unauthorized collection activities under Section seven thousand four hundred thirty-three.