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include partial payments on the priority claims for the periods
ending September 30, 1999, and December 31, 1999.
Petitioners claim that respondent should have applied the
disbursement to petitioners’ joint income tax liabilities first
instead of just Mr. Salazar’s employment tax liabilities. Where
a taxpayer makes voluntary payments to the IRS, he does have the
right to direct the application of payments to whatever type of
liability he chooses. See, e.g., Estate of Wilson v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-221. However, where a taxpayer
makes an involuntary payment, the IRS may allocate or reallocate
the payment as it sees fit, regardless of a taxpayer’s
designation. As we have stated: “An involuntary payment of
Federal taxes means any payment received by agents of the United
States as a result of distraint or levy or from a legal
proceeding in which the Government is seeking to collect its
delinquent taxes or file a claim therefor.” Amos v.
Commissioner, 47 T.C. 65, 69 (1966); see also United States v.
Pepperman, 976 F.2d 123, 127 (3d Cir. 1992) (noting that most
courts to have considered the issue have concluded that payments
made in the bankruptcy context are involuntary). In the light of
the involuntary nature of the bankruptcy distribution, we find no
error in respondent’s application of the proceeds to the
employment tax liabilities of Mr. Salazar before the joint income
tax liabilities of both petitioners. In any event, there is no
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