Lively Oral Argument in Home Concrete Leaves Outcome in Doubt

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Home Concrete case on January 17, with the Justices vigourously questioning both sides on both the statutory and administrative deference issues.  The Court will issue its decision by the end of June.  The following is a recap of the argument that is also published at SCOTUSblog.  A full transcript of the oral argument can be found here.

Home Concrete involves the scope of the extended six-year statute of limitations applicable when a taxpayer “omits from gross income an amount properly includible therein.”  The case presents two main issues:  (1) whether … Read More

Home Concrete Argument Preview

The long journey of the Intermountain cases toward a definitive resolution enters its final phase on Tuesday morning when the Supreme Court hears oral argument in the Home Concrete case.  (The final brief, the government’s reply brief, was filed last week.)  Each side will have 30 minutes for its argument, with the government going first and having the opportunity for rebuttal (using whatever portion of the 30 minutes that remains after its opening argument).  Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart (the Deputy SG in charge of tax cases) will argue for the government.  Gregory Garre, who served as Solicitor General … Read More

Taxpayer and Supporting Amicus Briefs Filed in Home Concrete

The taxpayer has filed its brief in Home Concrete.  The brief argues forcefully that the case is controlled by Colony, characterizing the underlying statutory issue as “settled by stare decisis.”   The brief disputes the government’s arguments that the changes made by Congress in the 1954 Code had the effect of extending the six-year statute to overstatements of basis outside the trade or business context, observing that the 1954 Code changes were all designed to favor taxpayers. 

With respect to the regulations, the taxpayer first argues that Colony should be understood as having held that the statutory language was … Read More

Supreme Court Briefing Underway and Argument Date Set in Home Concrete

The Supreme Court has set January 17 as the date for the oral argument in Home Concrete, the case in which it will decide the “Intermountain” issues concerning the applicability of the six-year statute of limitations to overstatements of basis, on which we have reported extensively many times before.  (See here and here for a sample.)  In the meantime, the briefing has commenced with the filing of the government’s opening brief (linked below).

The brief covers what is mostly familiar ground at this point, but it does further develop some of the arguments that have emerged … Read More

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Home Concrete Case to Address Six-Year Statute Issues

The Court this morning granted certiorari in the Home Concrete case from the Fourth Circuit, thus paving the way for a definitive, nationwide resolution of the issues presented in the Intermountain cases.  We had previously indicated that it was more likely that the Court would hear the Beard case, since the petition in that case was filed first.  It is ironic that the Court chose to hear the Home Concrete case, since that is the one case that neither party urged the Court to take.  (The government asked the Court to grant Beard and hold the Home Concrete case, and … Read More

Update on Intermountain Cases

Although our blog coverage might reasonably be accused of hibernating over the summer, court calendars inexorably marched on, and there were several developments in the various Intermountain cases.  If the Supreme Court grants cert in Beard on September 26, as we have predicted, these developments will not be of much moment, since all of the cases will likely be governed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Beard.  The one possible exception is the Federal Circuit’s decision in Grapevine, where the taxpayer’s cert petition has been fully briefed and is ready for consideration by the Supreme Court on September 26 … Read More

Beard Becomes First Intermountain Case to Reach the Supreme Court

We have been noting for the past few months that the Intermountain issue would be heading to the Supreme Court soon, with the government’s petition in the Home Concrete case due on July 5.  The taxpayers in Beard have jumped the line, however, by seeking certiorari ahead of the deadline, and that case is now docketed in the Supreme Court as No. 10-1553.  Meanwhile, the government has obtained a 30-day extension until August 3 to file its certiorari petition in Home Concrete.  Thus, unless the taxpayer in either Salman Ranch, Grapevine, or one of the D.C. Circuit cases sprints to … Read More

Tenth Circuit Sides With Government on Intermountain Issue

The Tenth Circuit, after a long period of deliberation, has reversed the Tax Court in Salman Ranch.  (Opinion linked here.)  This now makes the score 3-2 in favor of the government in the series of appeals that have spread to most circuits.  See our original report here.

The Tenth Circuit’s opinion closely tracks the reasoning of the Federal Circuit in Grapevine.  The court first looked at the Supreme Court’s decision in Colony and concluded that it should not be read as holding that the statute unambiguously supports the taxpayer’s position.  (The Tenth Circuit did note its disagreement with … Read More

Rehearing Denied in Burks

On April 15, the Fifth Circuit denied the government’s rehearing petition in Burks.  Not surprisingly, the courts of appeals are showing little interest in sitting en banc to address the Intermountain issue when they cannot eliminate the circuit conflict.  To recap, a rehearing petition is pending in the Federal Circuit, but the other three circuits to rule (the Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh) have denied rehearing, and the time is running to file petitions for certiorari in those cases.  The first deadline on the horizon is in the Home Concrete case from the Fourth Circuit, where the certiorari petition is due July 5.… Read More

Seventh Circuit Denies Rehearing in Beard

The Seventh Circuit today denied the taxpayer’s rehearing petition in Beard.  Coupled with the Fourth Circuit’s denial of rehearing in Home Concrete a few days ago, this action removes the faint theoretical possibility of resolving the circuit conflict in the Intermountain cases short of the Supreme Court.  A petition for certiorari in Beard would be due on July 7.… Read More

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