Taxpayers’ Brief Filed in Mayo Foundation

The taxpayers have filed their opening brief in Mayo Foundation, a copy of which is attached.  They argue primarily that the statutory language of the exemption unambiguously includes medical residents, and therefore there is no occasion to consider the reasonableness of the IRS regulation.  Secondarily, they argue that the regulation is in any event arbitrary and unreasonable. 

With respect to the question of the correct deference analysis discussed in our previous post, the brief relies heavily on the National Muffler Dealers factors.  It identifies five factors that militate against the reasonableness of the regulation:  (1) does not harmonize … Read More

Xilinx AOD Straightforward but Finds the IRS Still Intent on Redefining the Arm’s Length Standard

On July 28, 2010, the IRS released AOD 2010-33; 2010-33 IRB 1.  The AOD acquiesces in the result but not the reasoning of Xilinx, Inc. v. Comm’r, 598 F.3d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir. 2010) which held that stock option costs are not required to be shared as “costs” for purposes of cost sharing agreements under old Treas. Reg. §1.482-7.  For prior analysis of Xilinx see this.  The AOD in and of itself is relatively unsurprising.  New regulations (some might say “litigating regulations”) have been issued that explicitly address the issue, and those regulations will test the question of … Read More

Schizophrenic Application of Tax Penalties (Part II)

The last post in this series discussed differences in procedural posture that cause differences in the application of penalties.  Court splits in how the various and sundry penalty provisions in the Code are applied is an even more confusing area.  The two principal confusions are in the areas of TEFRA and valuation misstatements.  We will deal with TEFRA in this post.

Partnerships are not taxpaying entities.  They flow income, losses, deductions, and credits through to their partners who pay the tax.  Nevertheless, since Congress enacted the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, Pub. L. No. 97-248, 96 Stat. … Read More

State of Virginia Weighs in Against the IRS in Virginia Historic

Virginia has filed an amicus brief in the Fourth Circuit in support of the taxpayers in the Virginia Historic case.  (See here and here for previous coverage of the appeal).  The brief focuses primarily on policy, arguing that Virginia created these tax credits to facilitate historic preservation and expected that partnership vehicles might be necessary for businesses and individuals to make use of the credits.  According to the Commonwealth, “the IRS’s aggressive position threatens the effectiveness of the program and its benefits for all Virginians.”  Although the amicus brief is light on analysis of the federal tax issues, it may … Read More

Fifth Circuit to Consider Sourcing of Guarantee Fees

The parties are poised to brief the appeal of Tax Court’s decision in Container Corp. v. Commissioner, 134 T.C. No. 5 (Feb. 17, 2010), in the Fifth Circuit.  The issue concerns the “sourcing” of income earned by a Mexican corporation from loan guarantee fees paid by its U.S. subsidiary.  Code sections 861-63 identify certain items of income and specify whether they should be treated as U.S-source or foreign-source income.  But there are items of income not specified in those sections, like loan guarantee fees, and it falls to the courts to determine how to source them, using analogies to … Read More

Supreme Court to Address Deference Owed to Regulation Governing FICA Taxation of Medical Residents

In Mayo Foundation, et al. v. United States, No. 09-837, the Supreme Court will consider whether medical residents are exempt from FICA taxation, with the decision likely to turn on the level of deference the Court is willing to accord to a recent regulatory change.  Although the issue may seem obscure, there are 8,000 residency programs in the United States, and the government estimates that $700 million in taxes per year is at stake, with $2.1 billion in refund claims pending.  

The issue involves the meaning of the “student exemption” to FICA, which excludes from the definition of “employment” … Read More

Schizophrenic Application of Tax Penalties (Part I)

Based our recent post on the Sala decision here, we have had several comments inquiring about the varied application of penalties in the “tax shelter” cases.   This is the first in a planned series of responses to those comments that will try to explain, iron out, or at least flag, some of the irregularities.

When looking at the application of penalties to “shelter” cases generally, procedural posture matters.  A good example of this is Sala.  Why did the 10th Circuit discussion in Sala omit penalties?  Because it was a refund case in which the taxpayer appears to have … Read More

Appellees’ Response Filed in Virginia Historic

The Appellees filed their response brief yesterday in Virginia Historic Tax Credit Fund 2001 LP v. Comm’r, No. 10-1333 (4th Cir.) (linked below).  Our previous discussion of the case is here.

The government has advanced two basic arguments.  First, it argues that the partners of the state tax credit partnerships were not bona fide partners that made capital contributions; rather, the government contends, the alleged partners were, in substance, purchasers of state tax credits.  As such, the proceeds of these sales transactions are gross income to the partnerships, not non-taxable contributions to capital.  In making this argument, the … Read More

Tenth Circuit Reverses District Court in Sala

In a brief (and some might say terse) opinion, the Tenth Circuit has reversed the District Court in Sala v. United States, 552 F. Supp. 2d 1167 (D. Colo. 2008)  (decision linked below).  As many readers will recall, Sala was considered an outlier among the tax shelter cases litigated over the past few years, with the taxpayer winning at trial in a Son-of-BOSS case.  See our prior discussion of the case here.

Citing to Coltec Indus., Inc. v. United States, 454 F.3d 1340, 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2006), and Black & Decker Corp. v. United States, 436 F.3d … Read More

Welcome to the Tax Appellate Blog!

The Tax Appellate Blog is a new blog dedicated to covering important tax cases pending before the various federal  courts of appeals that are of interest to practitioners and others who follow the development of federal tax law. We will try to post regularly as developments warrant, and we welcome commentary from the broader tax law community. We also plan to provide links to the pleadings and other pertinent documents in those cases.  So, welcome aboard.… Read More

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