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Starr v US and The Power to Confer Discretionary Treaty Benefits: Part 1

Posted on Aug. 22, 2017

It is not often that the courts wrestle with the application of discretionary treaty provisions. Earlier this month, in Starr International v US , a DC federal district court found that the Competent Authority did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in denying discretionary relief under the U.S.-Swiss Treaty. In today’s post, I will  discuss the jurisdictional battle that led to last week’s opinion. I will follow up in Part 2 with a discussion as to the court’s application of the APA to the treaty claims.

In 2015, in District Court Hands IRS Loss in its Bid to Exclude Discretionary Treaty Benefits From Judicial Review I discussed the fight between The Starr International Group and the IRS over Starr’s efforts to get the benefits of discretionary treaty relief that would have reduced US withholding on AIG dividends. Much of the post discussed the government’s unsuccessful efforts to convince the court that the decision was not subject to court review. That opinion, and my post, discusses why there is a strong presumption against unfettered agency discretion.

Following that setback, the government asked the court to reconsider. In a 2016 opinion, the government did get a victory, of sorts. Despite reaffirming its earlier conclusion about the court’s power to review the IRS’s decision to not grant discretionary treaty relief, the District Court held that separation of powers principles meant that it could not order a monetary refund for Starr even if it felt that the US competent authority improperly applied that the anti-treaty shopping provisions of the US –Swiss tax treaty.

The 2016 opinion explored the  limits of the court’s powers. In so doing, it discusses how in treaties there is a consultation process between the contracting states following one state’s Competent Authority determination that a party is entitled to discretionary treaty relief.  That consultation is an executive branch function. As such, the 2016 opinion concludes that the courts are unable  to mandate that a party is entitled to receive a refund based on a claim that there was an improper application of a discretionary tax treaty provision. On that point, the opinion was clear:

To determine that Starr is entitled to a certain sum of benefits, the Court would be forced to step into the shoes of the IRS and its Swiss counterparts and effectively preordain the outcome of any consultation between the two. This a court may not do.

Yet in that 2016 development the district court concluded that Starr could bring a claim under the APA seeking to set aside the U.S Competent Authority’s determination and that if Starr “prevailed on that claim, [it] would be entitled … to have the matter remanded to the U.S. Competent Authority for further action” consistent with the Court’s opinion.

The 2016 opinion nicely summarizes how the APA provided jurisdiction over Starr’s dispute:

The APA makes “final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court … subject to judicial review.” 5 U.S.C. § 704. The government concedes that the Competent Authority’s decision constitutes final agency action. And if the Court were to hold that Starr could not challenge the decision through a claim brought under the tax-refund statute, then no other adequate remedy would exist, and review under the APA would be proper. Cf. Cohen v. United States, 650 F.3d 717, 736 [108 AFTR 2d 2011-5046] (D.C. Cir. 2011) (en banc) (directing the district court to consider the merits of an APA claim against the IRS when plaintiffs had “no other adequate remedy at law”).

In allowing Starr to bring a claim under the APA, the 2016 opinion acknowledged that Starr’s ultimate goal was a refund, not just an academic finding that the Competent Authority acted improperly. Yet, the opinion paved the way for the Starr Company to amend its complaint to bring the APA claims and suggested that such a finding might in fact lead to a refund (or at least a consultation about a refund):

As the Court has explained, however, monetary relief of any sort is unavailable to Starr without improper judicial intervention into the consultation process….

The Court declines to assume, however, that Starr would forgo an opportunity simply to have the Competent Authority’s decision set aside as arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. Indeed, as the government recognizes, remanding to the agency for further consideration is the norm when a court sets aside an agency’s action. And this relief is not illusory. Regardless of whether the Court possesses the authority to order the IRS to engage in consultation, counsel for the IRS has represented—and the Court would fully expect—that the IRS would not decline to consult with the Swiss in the event that the Court found that the IRS abused its discretion and remanded to the IRS, and the IRS otherwise preliminarily determined that Starr qualified for treaty benefits. Hr’g Tr., ECF No. 34, 42:8-18. The Court thus will not deprive Starr of the opportunity to seek this form of relief under the APA. It will grant Starr leave to amend its complaint to bring such a claim.

Starr dutifully amended its complaint to include APA claims. This led the district court in an opinion earlier this month to apply the APA to the Competent Authority’s decision to deny treat benefits. In Part 2 of this post, I will discuss the court’s analysis as to why under the APA the Competent Authority did not act improperly in finding that the discretionary treaty benefits did not apply to reduce withholding on the AIG dividends.

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