Satterlee v. Comm'r of IRS, No. 18-03348, 2019 WL 2236091 (W.D. Mo. May 23, 2019) (Ketchmark, J.)

Satterlee v. Comm'r of IRS, No. 18-03348, 2019 WL 2236091 (W.D. Mo. May 23, 2019) (Ketchmark, J.)

Re:  Request for tax records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant's motion to dismiss

• Litigation Considerations, Pleadings:  The court holds that "Defendants Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service and Disclosure Officer are not proper defendants because they are not agencies[]" and, therefore, "are dismissed from this action."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  "[The] Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over [three of] Plaintiff's . . . [r]equests because Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies."  The court finds that "Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as to [two] [r]equests because he did not file an administrative appeal."  "Defendant did not receive Plaintiff's Alleged [other] request; therefore, Plaintiff has not exhausted his administrative remedies."
   
• Procedural Requirements, Proper FOIA Requests:  The court holds that "[one] [r]equest does not make a valid FOIA request because it seeks a response to a question and/or the creation of a document."  The court relates that the "[r]equest asks that . . . [defendant] 'confirm and make responsive statement [sic] that there has been no IRS notice and demand made for or during years 1998-2004 and 2006-2011.'"
   
• Procedural Requirements, Expedited Processing:  The court holds that "Plaintiff is not entitled to expedited proceedings to access records for which he has either not exhausted his administrative remedies or submitted a valid FOIA request."
   
• Attorney Fees, Eligibility:  In response to plaintiff's request for fees, the court holds that "Plaintiff has not prevailed, so Plaintiff is not entitled to costs."