The Ninth Circuit has once again reversed the Tax Court in Altera v. Commissioner. The case was reheard after the untimely death of Judge Reinhardt. He was replaced on the panel by Judge Susan Graber. The change made little difference in the outcome. Judge O’Malley authored a strong dissent based on the fundamental principles of administrative law.
Read the opinion here: Altera v. Commissioner
In a case involving a who’s who’s of big law tax litigators and amici briefs from several well known international companies, a split panel of the 9th Circuit has reversed the Tax Court in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner. The two judge majority held that the IRS’s Section 482 cost-sharing regulations withstand scrutiny under general administrative law principles and are entitled to Chevron deference. The Tax Court decision invalidating those regulations as arbitrary and capricious is reversed.
Read the majority opinion and dissent here: Altera Corp. v. Commissioner.
