EAST ST. LOUIS – Attorney Raymond Perkins of O’Fallon owed the U.S. $578,274 as of Dec. 2, District Judge Stephen McGlynn ruled on June 3.
McGlynn found Perkins and wife Camela Perkins jointly owed another $90,143.
He found that the IRS could collect interest on both amounts since Dec. 2, and add other amounts according to statute.
Raymond Perkins practices at Thompson Coburn in St. Louis.
Tax lawyers in the Department of Justice sued him and Camela in 2020.
They claimed Raymond failed to pay income tax for 2006, 2008, and 2017.
They further claimed Raymond and Camela failed to pay for 2009, 2011, and 2018.
They claimed they signed installment agreements but IRS terminated the agreements after payments stopped.
They claimed Raymond owed $443,474, and Raymond and Camela owed $83,187.
Justice Department attorney Ali Gadelhak moved for summary judgment last December, with the same facts and bigger numbers.
Raymond and Camela opposed the motion, claiming Gadelhak based it on assessment certificates IRS never before produced.
He claimed the IRS failed to give notice that it would terminate the installment agreements and terminated them improperly.
He claimed a statute of limitations ran out on the assessment for 2008.
Gadelhak replied that failure to produce certificates was harmless because IRS produced uncertified transcripts.
“Defendants do not present evidence that they complied with the installment agreements,” he wrote.
“Rather, the transcripts show only a couple of installment payments, and thus their default due to non payment.”
McGlynn found an IRS assessment is presumed correct and it falls to the taxpayer to overcome the presumption.
He found courts generally don’t look at the undergirding of an assessment to evaluate procedures and evidence.
He found Raymond and Camela didn’t appear to challenge that they were assessed, nor did they appear to challenge the amounts.
He found the IRS submitted presumptive proof of proper termination and Raymond and Camela didn’t rebut the presumption.
He found the U.S. sued within the statutory period with respect to 2008.