Briefing Complete in Quality Stores
January 2, 2014
The government’s reply brief has now been filed in Quality Stores, completing the briefing. The Court will hear oral argument on January 14.
Also linked below are three amicus briefs that have been filed in support of the taxpayer. The brief filed by the ERISA Industry Committee comprehensively addresses the question presented, examining the relevant statutes, legislative history, administrative pronouncements, and judicial precedents. The brief filed by the American Payroll Association engages in a statutory analysis and examines the administrative pronouncements, concluding that the government’s position “would replace the straightforward definition provided by Congress with a cumbersome and essentially unadministrable definition.” The brief filed by the American Benefits Council focuses almost exclusively on the IRS’s Revenue Rulings. Admittedly “derived from an article” previously published by the brief’s author, the amicus brief argues that the regime established by the Revenue Rulings is “incoherent and unsupported” and should be rejected by the Court in favor of the taxpayer’s position, which is “coherent, sensible, and easily understood.”
Quality Stores – Government Supreme Court Reply Brief
Quality Stores – Amicus Brief of ERISA Industry Committee
Quality Stores – Amicus Brief of American Benefits Council
Quality Stores – Amicus Brief of American Payroll Association