Harvard Law Review: '[This] Is A Tax Case. Fear Not. Keep Reading.'

Legal Case, Polselli v. IRS, 137 Harv. L. Rev. 430 (2023):

Internal Revenue Code § 7609 — Unnoticed Summons — Tax Exceptionalism — Surplusage Canon — Polselli v. IRS:

Polselli v. IRS¹ is a tax case.² Fear not, keep reading.³ 

In fulfilling its duty to collect federal taxes,⁴ the IRS has historically received disfavor from many in American society.⁵ Labeled “legalized larceny” in President Coolidge’s inaugural address,⁶ excessive taxation or beliefs thereof even incentivize some to evade these levies.⁷ Accordingly, Congress has equipped the IRS with several tools to enforce taxpayers’ obligations under the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C. or the “Code”).⁸ Last Term, the Supreme Court in Polselli interpreted one such provision, I.R.C. § 7609(c)(2)(D)(i), to authorize the unnoticed summonses of bank records concerning a deficient taxpayer’s wife and counsel — barring them from judicial review.⁹ And despite assurances otherwise from conflicting forms of “tax exceptionalism” in the majority and concurrence,¹⁰ this broadly worded statute worryingly enables the IRS to investigate countless taxpayers without notice or court oversight.