United States v. Clarke (2013)
- Docket
- 13-301
- Decided
- 2013-01-01
Summary
Question: Does an allegation that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a summons for an improper purpose entitle an opponent of the summons to a hearing to question IRS officials about their reasons for issuing the summons before the court allows the summonses to be enforced? Conclusion: No. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion for the unanimous Court. The Court held that a simple allegation of improper purpose was not sufficient to entitle a taxpayer to examine IRS officials; however, the taxpayer does have the right to such an examination if the taxpayer can point to specific facts or circumstances that could plausibly result from bad faith on the part of the IRS. Because the summons stage is necessarily a preliminary one, the taxpayer does not need to present a fully fleshed-out case, but neither should a summons dispute turn into a search for wrongdoing.