Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Bernard T. Swift, Jr., et ux. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 24-60270 · judgment July 16, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
This case presents a conflict regarding an important question of statutory construction under the Internal Revenue Code. The Code provides that no penalty shall be assessed unless the initial determination of such assessment is personally approved in writing by an immediate supervisor. Courts of Appeals have diverged on when an IRS employee must secure supervisory approval for a penalty assessment to be valid. The question presented is: W hen must an IRS employee secure w r itten supervisory approval for a penalty assessment to be valid?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Austen Leonides Unzeitig
Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry PC
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage
Proceedings
- Apr 20 2026Petition DENIED.
- Apr 01 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2026.
- Mar 27 2026Reply of petitioners Bernard T. Swift, Jr., et ux. filed. (Distributed)
- Mar 13 2026Brief of respondent Federal Respondent in opposition filed.
- Feb 02 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including March 13, 2026.
- Jan 30 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 11, 2026 to March 13, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jan 12 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 11, 2026.
- Jan 09 2026Brief amicus curiae of Donald Miller, Jr. filed.
- Jan 08 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 12, 2026 to February 11, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 09 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 12, 2026)