26 U.S.C. § 6671

Rules for application of assessable penalties

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(a) Penalty assessed as tax

The penalties and liabilities provided by this subchapter shall be paid upon notice and demand by the Secretary, and shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as taxes. Except as otherwise provided, any reference in this title to “tax” imposed by this title shall be deemed also to refer to the penalties and liabilities provided by this subchapter.

(b) Person defined

The term “person”, as used in this subchapter, includes an officer or employee of a corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who as such officer, employee, or member is under a duty to perform the act in respect of which the violation occurs.

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 828; Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834.)Editorial NotesAmendments

1976—Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 309 cases (22 in the last 5 years), 1956–2025 · leading case: Seven-Sky v. Holder, 661 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2011).
Seven-Sky v. Holder, 661 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2011). · cites it 11× “" 26 U.S.C. § 6671 (a). The second sentence sweeps broader than the preceding sentence; it means subchapter B assessable penalties—which are all directly related to taxes—are to be treated as taxes for all *12 purposes under the Code.”
Nat'l Fed'n of Indep. Bus. v. Sebelius, 132 S. Ct. 2566 (2012). · cites it 2× “For example, 26 U. S. C. §6671 (a) provides that “any reference in this title to ‘tax’ imposed by this title shall be deemed also to refer to the penalties and liabilities provided by” subchapter 68B of the Internal Revenue Code.”
Gail McClendon v. United States, 892 F.3d 775 (5th Cir. 2018). · cites it 2× “24 26 U.S.C. § 6671 (a). Responsible persons are jointly and severally liable, Brown v.”
Cic Servs., LLC v. Internal Revenue Serv., 925 F.3d 247 (6th Cir. 2019). · cites it 5× “In 26 U.S.C. § 6671 (a), the Tax Code explicitly defines such penalties as taxes for the purposes of the AIA, and that practice has been “clear[ly] and unequivocal[ly]” acknowledged by the Supreme Court.”
United Mine Works of Am. Combined Benefit Fund v. Andre M. Toffel, for Walter Energy, Inc. (In re Walter Energy, Inc.), 911 F.3d 1121 (11th Cir. 2018). · cites it 2× “(citing 26 U.S.C. § 6671 (a) ). The Court explained that this provision deemed the penalties set forth in subchapter 68B to be taxes for purposes of the Anti-Injunction Act, located in the Internal Revenue Code, even though Congress did not directly label the exactions set forth…”
Slodov v. United States, 436 U.S. 238 (1978). · cites it 2× “" 26 U. S. C. § 6671 (b). Since we do not decide whether § 7501 establishes a basis of liability applicable to responsible persons independent of § 6672, we need not address these contentions.”
Florida Bankers Ass'n v. United States Dep't of Treasury, 799 F.3d 1065 (D.C. Cir. 2015). · cites it 4× “” 26 U.S.C. § 6671 (a) (emphasis added). In other words, under Section 6671(a), any provision in Title 26 that refers to a “tax” imposed by that title applies to penalties imposed under Chapter 68, Subchapter B.”
Liberty Univ., Inc. v. Geithner, 753 F. Supp. 2d 611 (W.D. Va. 2010). · cites it 4× “The Act provides that the penalty for violation of the individual coverage requirement "shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as an assessable penalty under [ 26 U.S.C. §§ 6671 et seq.]." Act § 1501(g)(1).”
United States v. Sotelo, 436 U.S. 268 (1978). · cites it 2× “" 26 U. S. C. § 6671 (a). But while there is clear statutory authority for treating a § 6672 penalty as a tax for purposes of administering the Internal Revenue Code, there is no authority for treating such a penalty as a tax for purposes of the Bankruptcy Act.”
United States v. Farr, 536 F.3d 1174 (10th Cir. 2008). · cites it 2× “As the government notes, while there is a linguistic distinction between the term “tax” employed in Section 7201 and the term "penalty” used in Section 6672, 26 U.S.C. § 6671 explicitly states that, "[e]xcept as otherwise provided,” any Code reference to a “tax” imposed also…”
In Re Premo, 116 B.R. 515 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 1990). · cites it 3× “” 26 U.S.C. § 6671 (b). The “act” specified in § 6672 is “to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over any tax imposed by this title.”
Quattrone Accountants, Inc. & Philip P. Quattrone v. Internal Revenue Serv., 895 F.2d 921 (3rd Cir. 1990). · cites it 2× “However, the fact remains that debtor is jointly and severally liable for the 100% penalty, and, given this fact combined with the highly contingent nature of Philip Quattrone actually paying a portion of UDF’s tax liability, we cannot conclude that a determination of Philip…”
— 26 U.S.C. § 6671(b) — 4 cases
Tiffany v. United States, 228 F. Supp. 700 (D.N.J. 1963).
Jack S. Burden v. United States, 486 F.2d 302 (10th Cir. 1973).
Dunham v. United States, 301 F. Supp. 700 (D. Conn. 1969).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.