A federal appeals court last week let a plaintiff off the hook for failing to sue the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a timely manner when he was only 10 years old.

Logan Volpicelli, now an adult, sued the IRS over $13,000 that the agency took from him at age 10 to cover a tax liability owed by his father, who was deceased. They confiscated the funds through a levy, wrongly believing they belonged to the father.

Volpicelli claimed he didn’t file his lawsuit until 2010, after he had turned 18, because he didn’t learn of the wrongful levy until then.

The IRS contended that the lawsuit should be thrown out because the federal statute of limitations is nine months for challenging IRS’ tax levies, and it took Volpicelli more than eight years to file his case.

“The government, as might be expected, moved to dismiss Volpicelli's action as untimely,” stated the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. “Volpicelli conceded his failure to meet the statutory filing deadline but argued that the deadline should be equitably tolled until he reached the age of majority.”

In a ruling (pdf) written by Judge Paul Watford, the three-person appellate panel sided with Volpicelli.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

IRS Must Answer for Levy on Nevada 10-Year-Old (by Mike Heuer, Courthouse News Service)

Volpicelli v. US — is the 6532(c) 9-month Period to Bring Wrongful Levy Suits “Jurisdictional”? (by Carlton Smith, Procedurally Taxing)

Logan Volpicelli v. United States (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals) (pdf)