UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 9, 2024

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

GOD'S STOREHOUSE TOPEKA CHURCH,

Petitioner - Appellant,

v. No. 23-3063

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Respondent - Appellee. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Kansas (D.C. No. 5:22-CV-04014-DDC-TJJ) _________________________________

Ryan A. Kriegshauser, Kriegshauser Ney Law Group, Olathe, Kansas, (Ryan K. Oberly and Meaghan Falkanger, Wagenmaker & Oberly, Chicago, Illinois, with him on the briefs) for Petitioner-Appellant.

Pooja A. Boisture, Attorney, Tax Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., (Kate E. Brubacher, United States Attorney, Of Counsel; David A. Hubbert, Deputy Assistant Attorney General; and Arthur T. Catterall, Attorney, Tax Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., with her on the brief) for Respondent-Appellee. _________________________________

Before MORITZ, MURPHY, and CARSON, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Appellate Case: 23-3063 Document: 010111028952 Date Filed: 04/09/2024 Page: 2

I. INTRODUCTION

God’s Storehouse Topeka Church (“GSH”)1 appeals from a district court order

denying its petition to quash a third-party summons the Internal Revenue Service

(“IRS”) issued to Kaw Valley Bank (“Kaw Valley”). IRS summonsed Kaw Valley

pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7609, seeking bank records for accounts in GSH’s name.

GSH claimed the summons was invalid because, before its issuance, IRS failed to

satisfy requirements applicable to church tax inquiries and examinations. See 26

U.S.C. § 7611.2 In particular, GSH asserted the Tax Exempt and Government Entities

Commissioner (“TE/GE Commissioner”), the IRS official that signed off on the GSH

inquiry, is not an “appropriate high-level Treasury official” for purposes of

§ 7611(a)(2).

The district court denied GSH’s petition, concluding (1) the provisions of

§ 7611 do not apply to § 7609 third-party summonses; and (2), even if the provisions

of § 7611 did apply to § 7609 third-party summonses, IRS complied with the

requirements of § 7611(a)(2). Like the district court, we hold the plain language of

§ 7611 makes clear it does not apply to § 7609 third-party summonses. Accordingly,

1 We use GSH to refer to God’s Storehouse Topeka Church because that is the term used by GSH in its appellate briefs. 2 Section 7611 was enacted as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1984, Pub. L. No. 98-369, §§ 5, 1033, 98 Stat. 494, 1034 (1984). The provisions of § 7611 are often referred to as the Church Audit Procedures Act. Music Square Church v. United States, 218 F.3d 1367, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Branch Ministries v. Rossotti, 211 F.3d 137, 139-40 (D.C. Cir. 2000); United States v. Church of Scientology W. United States, 973 F.2d 715, 717 (9th Cir. 1992). 2 Appellate Case: 23-3063 Document: 010111028952 Date Filed: 04/09/2024 Page: 3

it is unnecessary to decide whether the TE/GE Commissioner is an appropriate high-

level Treasury official. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this

court affirms the district court’s denial of GSH’s petition to quash.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Richard and Penni