Tax Legal Services · Primary-source case analysis

Polselli v. IRS: Collection Summonses May Proceed Without Notice to Record Holders

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published April 13, 2026

The IRS often must notify a person identified in a third-party summons, but Congress created exceptions. Polselli interprets the exception for a summons issued in aid of collecting an assessed liability.

The collection investigation

After assessing substantial liabilities against a taxpayer, the IRS sought records from banks connected to the taxpayer’s wife and lawyers. The government did not notify the account holders. They petitioned to quash, arguing that the notice exception should apply only when the delinquent taxpayer had a legal interest in the summoned records.

Three statutory requirements

The Court identified the provision’s textual requirements: the summons must be issued in aid of collection; an assessment or judgment must already exist; and the collection effort must concern the liability of the person identified in the statute. The text does not add a requirement that the delinquent taxpayer possess a legal or proprietary interest in the requested records.

The unanimous holding

The Court declined to insert the proposed legal-interest test and affirmed. A summons can aid collection by helping the IRS locate assets or understand financial relationships even if the taxpayer does not own the records or account. The Court did not define the outer boundary of “in aid of collection” because the question presented was limited to the proposed ownership requirement.

Practical consequences

Whether notice is required affects the opportunity to bring a pre-enforcement petition to quash. Recipients and affected account holders must therefore examine the summons date, the existence of an assessment or judgment, the taxpayer whose liability is being collected, and whether the summons genuinely serves that collection effort. Other objections and post-compliance remedies were not resolved by the holding.

Key takeaways

• The collection exception contains no taxpayer-ownership requirement.
• An assessment or judgment must precede reliance on the exception.
• The summons must aid collection of the identified taxpayer’s liability.
• Other limits on summons authority remain separate questions.