Saturday, September 19, 2020

District Court Grants Government Summary Judgment on FBAR Civil Willful Penalty (9/19/20)

In United States v. Toth, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169173 (D. Mass. 2020), CL here, the Court granted the Government’s motion for summary judgment that Toth was liable for the FBAR civil willful penalty.  The holdings break no new ground, so I just list the holdings:

1. The maximum penalty is the greater 50% of the account(s) that should have been reported or  $100,000, rather than being capped at $100,000.  This is the mainstream holding (after a couple of early aberrations).  (Slip Op. 7-10.)

2. The submissions on the motion satisfied the Government’s burden to prove Toth’s failure to file FBAR for 2007 was willful.  (Slip Op. 10-12.)

3. Lenity does not apply to reduce the amount of the willful penalty.  (Slip Op. 12-13.)

4. The Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines prohibition does not apply. (Slip Op. 13-18.)

5. The penalty does not violate Due Process. (Slip Op. 18-19.)

The CL docket entries are here.

Prior blog entries on the Toth case (in reverse chronological order) are:

  • In Willful FBAR Collection Suit, District Court Rejects Reconsideration of Finding of FBAR Willfulness As Discovery Sanction (Federal Tax Crimes Blog 12/28/19), here.
  • Government FBAR Willful Penalty Suit Survives Motion to Dismiss (Federal Tax Crimes Blog 5/9/17), here.




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