Godt v. Internal Revenue Service
Godt v. Internal Revenue Service
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
David Godt has not filed a federal income tax return in over fifteen years and owes more than $90,000 in unpaid taxes. When the Internal Revenue Service tried to collect, he brought this action, nominally a civil-rights suit against the agency and two of its employees but in reality an attempt to erase his tax debt on the tired
We review a dismissal on service-of-process grounds for abuse of discretion. Coleman v. Milwaukee Bd. of Sch. Dirs., 290 F.3d 932, 934 (7th Cir. 2002); Troxell v. Fedders of N. Am., Inc., 160 F.3d 381, 383 (7th Cir. 1998). If a district court “properly sets out the relevant law and makes no factual findings that are clearly erroneous, an abuse of discretion exists only if its decision was arbitrary and unreasonable.” Troxell, 160 F.3d at 383. Here, the district court had a firm grasp of the relevant law: the judge recognized the command to extend time for service of process if good cause is shown. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(m); United States v. McLaughlin, 470 F.3d 698, 700 (7th Cir. 2006). Finding no good cause for the delay (Godt offered none), the judge exercised her discretion to deny any further time to complete service of process. See Fed.R.CivP. 4(m); McLaughlin, 470 F.3d at 700. That decision was neither arbitrary nor unreasonable. The court had notified Godt of the defective service before the time expired, and yet he still did not fix the problem. Moreover, the court recognized that enlarging the time for service would only prolong frivolous litigation. There is not a hint of abuse of discretion here.
The defendants ask that we sanction Godt for pursuing a frivolous appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 38. Godt’s primary contention in this lawsuit, that the Sixteenth Amendment does not permit a direct tax on income, is contradicted by nearly a hundred years of precedent. E.g., Brushaber v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 240 U.S. 1, 19, 36 S.Ct. 236, 60 L.Ed. 493 (1916); Coleman v. CIR, 791 F.2d 68, 70 (7th Cir. 1986); Lovell v. United States, 755 F. 2d 517, 519 (7th Cir. 1984). The district court warned him on two separate occasions that his suit was frivolous. And we announced long ago — and reiterate all too frequently — that frivolous arguments of this sort will be met with sanctions. E.g., United, States v. Patridge, 507 F.3d 1092, 1096 (7th Cir. 2007); Kile v. CIR, 739 F.2d 265, 269-70 (7th Cir. 1984). Accordingly, we grant the government’s motion and order Godt to pay $4,000, the presumptive sanction for frivolous tax appeals. See Szopa v. United States, 460 F.3d 884, 887 (7th Cir. 2006).
The judgment is AFFIRMED. The defendants’ motion for Rule 38 sanctions is GRANTED, and it is ORDERED that Godt is sanctioned $4,000 for filing a frivolous appeal. Within fourteen days of the date of this order, Godt must tender a check to the clerk of this court, payable to the Internal Revenue Service, for the full
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David J. GODT v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
- Status
- Published