Page:Polselli v. IRS.pdf/5

Rh taxpayer, §7602(a), it must provide notice, §7609(a)(1). But once the Service has reached the stage of “collecting any such liability,” §7602(a)—which is a distinct activity—notice may not be required, §7609(c)(2)(D).

For multiple years between 2005 and 2017, Remo Polselli underpaid his federal taxes. App. to Pet. for Cert. 65a–66a. After investigating, the IRS determined that Mr. Polselli was liable for the unpaid amounts and other penalties, and entered official assessments against him totaling more than $2 million. Id., at 66a. Revenue Officer Michael Bryant then set out to collect the money, and he developed a few leads in his search for assets that Mr. Polselli may have been concealing. Bryant focused on bank accounts belonging to Mr. Polselli’s wife, petitioner Hanna Karcho Polselli. Ibid. Bryant also knew that Mr. Polselli had paid nearly $300,000 toward part of his outstanding tax liability from an account owned by Dolce Hotel Management, LLC, and surmised that Mr. Polselli might have control over funds belonging to that company. Id., at 67a. To further his investigation, Bryant issued a summons under §7602 to the law firm Abraham & Rose, PLC, where Mr. Polselli had long been a client. Ibid. But the firm produced no records in response, stating that it “did not retain any of the documents requested.” Ibid.

Bryant then issued several additional summonses seeking records concerning Mr. Polselli. Bryant issued one summons to Wells Fargo, requesting the financial records of both Mrs. Polselli and Dolce Hotel Management. Id., at 70a–71a. He also issued summonses to JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, seeking among other things “[c]opies of all bank statements” relating to Mr. Polselli and petitioners Jerry R. Abraham, P. C., and Abraham & Rose, PLC. Id., at 78a–79a, 85a–86a. Bryant did not provide notice to any of the third parties named in the three summonses.