(PS) United States of America v. Torrance ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 2:18-cv-1631-JAM-EFB-PS 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER DIRECTING PETITIONER TO FILE SUPPLEMENTAL EVIDENCE 14 BRIAN TORRANCE, 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner United States of America filed this action seeking to enforce an Internal 18 Revenue Service (“IRS”) summons that had been served on respondent Brian Torrance 19 (“Torrance”). ECF No. 1. The government has moved for an order holding Torrancein contempt 20 and requestingthe imposition of a $350 daily fine whileTorranceremains in contempt. ECF No. 21 51. A hearing on the motion was held on October 8, 2020. ECF No. 66. 22 As discussed at the hearing, the record lacks any information about either the amount of 23 Torrance’s assessed tax liabilities orhis financial resources. Without such information, it is 24 difficult to assess whetherthe requested daily fine is appropriate. See, e.g., United States v. Wen- 25 Bing Soong, No. C-13-4088-EMC, 2015 WL 5168756, at * 4 (N.D. Sept. 3, 2015) (finding 26 appropriate the imposition of a $1,000 daily fine on a married couple in light of theannual 27 revenue of theirprivately held corporation, which exceeded $200 million). Accordingly, the 28 government is hereby ordered to submit, within seven days, information regarding Torrance’s 1 || assessed tax liabilities and any readily available information bearing on Torrance’s ability to pay 2 || the requested sanction. The information may be provided by a declaration, signed under penalty 3 || of perjury, and need not be supported by financial records. 4 So ordered. 5 6 Dated: October 15, 2020 —\N ppnsnn □ Caden □ 7 STATE GISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28