Board Member Denies Responsibility for Hospital’s Unpaid Taxes

A West Virginia hospital board member sued the federal government seeking a refund of over $386,300 for assessed penalties, claiming the IRS wrongly held him responsible for unpaid employee withholding taxes when he had no control over payroll decisions.

Samuel Kapourales filed the lawsuit after the IRS assessed trust fund recovery penalties against him for periods when Williamson Memorial Hospital failed to remit employee tax withholdings to the government, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

The IRS incorrectly determined Kapourales was a “responsible person” who willfully failed to ...