Bob Adler Quoted on Petition for U.S. Supreme Court to Review IRS Trust Penalty Case

Bob Adler was quoted in the Law360 story “2nd Circ. Wrongly OK'd $3M IRS Trust Penalty, Justices Told” (subscription required). The piece focuses on a petition by the estate of Joseph Wilson to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting review of a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision that erroneously sustained a $3.2 million IRS penalty for Mr. Wilson’s failure to timely report a foreign trust distribution.

The case, Emily S. Wilson et al. v. U.S., case number 21-631 (subscription required) in the U.S. Supreme Court, centers around the $9.2 million distribution Wilson received in 2007 from a foreign trust when his divorce proceedings concluded and he transferred these funds back to the U.S. Wilson and his trust failed to timely file IRS Forms IRS 3520 and 3520-A, and the IRS subsequently assessed a 35% penalty on the $ 9.3 million distribution. The District Court had previously granted summary judgement in Wilson’s favor, holding that there should be no penalty and ordered a refund of the $3.2 million Wilson had previously paid the IRS, together with statutory interest.

In the petition for certiorari filed with the Supreme Court, the estate contends that the appeals court made the wrong call in its reversal since its decision runs contrary to a host of Supreme Court decisions.

Commenting on the matter, Bob, who represents the Wilson estate, said he is “hopeful that the court will review the case.”