Voluntary payment doctrine does not apply to tax indebtedness.

The Georgia Supreme Court reversed and remanded the decision of the Superior Court, which had determined that settlement with one responsible party for unpaid taxes precludes collecting from a second responsible party under the voluntary payment doctrine.  The Supreme Court held that the voluntary payment doctrine applies to contracts and not tax indebtedness. The case, which originated with OSAH, found Petitioner to be a responsible corporate officer who had willfully failed to pay his business’s sales and use taxes, despite that, as the minority shareholder facing the threat of termination, he was not the most responsible party and he did not act with evil intent.