Shaffran v. Commissioner: Tax Court Rejects IRS’s “De Facto Officer” Argument in Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Case
The taxpayer in Shaffran v Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-35 (link) was not an owner, officer, or employee of a restaurant that got behind in its federal payroll taxes. Yet, the IRS still attempted to assert the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (“TFRP”) against the taxpayer under the theory that he was a “de facto officer”. How…