Tax Fraud Penalties Don’t Get Seventh Amendment Trial Guarantee

The Seventh Amendment guarantee to a trial by jury doesn’t apply to civil tax fraud penalties imposed by the IRS under IRC Section 6663(a), the US Tax Court said in a precedential opinion.

The court denied a motion for summary judgment from a partnership that attempted to cite last year’s Supreme Court opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy—an opinion which required certain penalties imposed by government agencies to be heard in a trial by jury. But that high court decision contemplated situations not related to revenue collection, a role understood to belong to the government, and it didn’t enlarge ...