Summary
The Fourth Circuit held that employment taxes withheld from wages paid by a Chapter 11 bankruptcy estate, along with the employer's share of FICA taxes, are first-priority administrative expenses rather than sixth-priority tax claims. The court also held that penalties and accrued interest on those taxes receive first-priority treatment. The bankruptcy court's order was reversed and remanded.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether employment taxes withheld from wages paid by a Chapter 11 bankruptcy estate are first-priority administrative expenses under 11 U.S.C. §§ 503(b)(1)(B)(i) and 507(a)(1), rather than sixth-priority tax claims under § 507(a)(6)(C).
- Whether penalties assessed for failure to pay those taxes and interest accruing on the taxes are entitled to first-priority treatment.
Holdings
- Employment taxes withheld from wages paid after the bankruptcy petition, including the employees' withheld shares of FICA and income taxes and the employer's share of FICA taxes, are first-priority administrative expenses of the bankruptcy estate rather than sixth-priority tax claims.
- Penalties for failure to pay first-priority employment taxes and interest accruing on those taxes are also entitled to first-priority treatment as administrative expenses.
Key quotations
“We therefore hold that the government is entitled as a first priority expense of the bankruptcy estate to full payment of the taxes claimed, the penalties for failure to pay them on time, and interest from the date that it accrued.”
Factual background
Friendship College filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on February 26, 1981, and continued paying employees during the reorganization. It withheld FICA and income taxes from employee wages but did not remit those amounts to the Internal Revenue Service, and it also failed to pay the employer's share of FICA taxes. The government assessed the estate for the unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest, and the bankruptcy court determined that the withheld employee taxes were only sixth-priority claims.
Procedural history
Friendship College filed for Chapter 11 reorganization and remained in possession as debtor in possession. After the reorganization failed, the bankruptcy court appointed a trustee and approved a liquidation plan. The bankruptcy court held that the employer's share of FICA taxes was entitled to first-priority status, that employee withholding taxes had only sixth priority, and that interest had no priority. The parties stipulated to a direct appeal.
Remand instructions
Remand for entry of an order giving the government first-priority administrative-expense status for the claimed taxes, penalties for untimely payment, and accrued interest.