AJAC and the APA, Designated Orders 4/8/2019 – 4/12/19

I spent time reviewing the history of the APA’s relationship with the IRS as well as the somewhat recent Tax Court cases that have addressed it (including Ax and Altera). The argument put forth by petitioner in this designated order appears to be novel – but ultimately the Tax Court’s response is similar to its holding in Ax, with perhaps even more insistence on the Tax Court’s jurisdictional limitations.  

Most recently, the Ninth Circuit withdrew its decision in the appeal of Altera, and we wait to see if it decides again to overturn the Tax Court’s decision which held that the IRS violated the APA when issuing regulations under section 482. For the most recent PT update on the case, see Stu Bassin’s post here.

The case in which this order was designated is also appealable to the Ninth Circuit. Is petitioner teeing up another APA argument before the Ninth Circuit depending on what happens in Altera? That’s a stretch – since petitioner is asking the Court to treat a phone call with Appeals as a adjudication – but it is possible that something more is going on than what is conveyed in the order.

First, let me provide some background: Petitioner is an LLC taxed as TEFRA partnership; it filed bankruptcy in 2008 but then reorganized. Part of the reorganization involved the conversion of debt that Goldman Sachs (or entities controlled by it) had in the old partnership into a controlling equity interest in the new partnership.  After the reorganization, the partnership filed tax returns taking the position that the partnership was terminated on the date of the reorganization because more than 50% of the partnership interests had been ousted through what was in substance a foreclosure of the old partners’ interests. Accordingly, the old partners treated the reorganization as a deemed sale of their property and reported $22 million in gain.

Then, in 2011, reorganized EZ Lube filed an Administrative Adjustment Request (AAR) taking a position contrary to the former partners’ previously filed returns. The position taken in the AAR was that the partnership was not technically terminated, and instead the exchange of debt for equity created $80 million in cancelled debt income.

The IRS agreed with the AAR and issued a final partnership administrative adjustment (FPAA) reflecting that the partners’ originally filed returns were wrong. But one of the former partners liked the old characterization so in response to the FPAA, he petitioned the Tax Court.

In due course the case was assigned to Appeals and this is where things start to get messy. The Appeals officer stated, over the phone, that she agreed with the former partner. In other words, that the FPAA should be conceded. The Appeals Officer’s manager concurred but explained that they would need to consult with Appeals National Office before the agreement could be conveyed in a TEFRA settlement. Appeals National Office did not agree with the Appeals Officer’s position, so the case did not settle.

Petitioner argues that the phone conversation with the Appeals Officer was a determination and should end the case. The basis for petitioner’s argument is that the IRS’s Appeals Judicial Approach and Culture initiative transformed Appeals to a quasi-judicial part of the IRS which listens to each side and then issues a decision (like a court) instead of negotiating settlements to end litigation.

The IRS does not dispute that the phone call occurred, nor does it dispute the substance of what the Appeals Officer said, but it does dispute that the phone call was a determination. The IRS acknowledges that AJAC may have changed how Appeals processes cases, but maintains it did not set up a system of informal agency adjudication followed by judicial review as those terms are commonly used in administrative law.  

The Court tasks itself to answer the only question it sees fit for summary judgment, which is: what is the proper characterization of what the Appeals officer said?

The Court can decide, as it has in other cases, whether the parties actually reached a settlement by applying contract law and by making any subsidiary findings of fact. But petitioner argues that the call was not a settlement, it was a determination and the Court has jurisdiction to review such determinations.

This is where the Court insists on its jurisdictional limitations and goes on to review all the different code sections that grant it jurisdiction. It does not find anything in the Code that allows it to review determinations by Appeals in TEFRA, or deficiency, cases.

The petitioner agrees that nothing in the Code provides the Court with jurisdiction to review Appeals determinations in deficiency cases. Instead petitioner argues that the default rules of the APA give the Court jurisdiction, because the Appeals Officer was the presiding agency employee and she had the authority to make a recommended or initial decision as prescribed by 5 U.S.C. 554 and 557, and the Appeals Officer’s decision is subject to judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 702.

This is where the Tax Court revisits some of the arguments made in Ax – that the Internal Revenue Code assigns Tax Court jurisdiction. This arrangement is permissible under what the APA calls “special statutory review proceedings” under 5 U.S.C. 703. See Les’s post here and Stephanie Hoffer and Christopher J. Walker’s post here for more information.

If petitioner seeks review under default rules of the APA, the Court’s scope of review would be limited to the administrative record with an abuse of discretion standard. This creates two different standards for TEFRA cases, and the Court finds this impossible to reconcile.

The reality is that when a petitioner is unhappy with a decision made by Appeals in a docketed case, they can bring the case before the Court. It seems as though petitioner in this case is trying to treat a decision made by the Appeals Officer assigned to the case as something different than a decision made by Appeals National Office – but a decision has not been rendered until a decision document is issued and executed by both parties. The Court points out that phone calls can be a relevant fact in determining whether the parties have reached a settlement, but it doesn’t mean the Court has the jurisdiction to review phone calls. Petitioner says phone call itself is of jurisdictional importance, but if that’s the case, it is the District Court, not the Tax Court, that is the appropriate venue to review it.

Is this a situation where petitioner is unhappy because there was a glimmer of hope that the case would go his way which was ultimately destroyed by the National office? Or is something more going on here?  AJAC is called a project and caused changes to the IRM. It’s not a regulation or even guidance provided to taxpayers – rather it is a policy for IRS employees to follow and seems to be a permissible process and within the agency’s discretion to use. But it’s not even AJAC itself that petitioner seems to have a problem with, instead petitioner’s problem lies with the difference between the appeals officer’s position and the National Office’s position on the case.

The Court denies petitioner’s summary judgment motion and orders the parties to file a status report to identify any remaining issues and explain whether a trial will be necessary.

Other Orders Designated

There were no designated orders during the week of April 1, which is why there is no April post from Patrick. The Court seemingly got caught up during the following week and there were nine other orders designated during my week. In my opinion, they were less notable, but I’ve briefly summarized them here:

• Docket No. 20237-16, Leon Max v. CIR (order here): the Court reviews the sufficiency of petitioner’s answers and objections on certain requests for admissions in a qualified research expenditure case.
• Docket No. 24493-18, James H. Figueroa v. CIR (order here): the Court grants respondent’s motion to dismiss a pro se petitioner for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
• Docket No. 5956-18, Rhonda Howard v. CIR (order here): the Court grants a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute in a case with a nonresponsive petitioner.
• Docket No. 12097-16, Trilogy, Inc & Subsidiaries v. CIR (order here): the Court grants petitioner’s motion in part to review the sufficiency of IRS’s responses to eight requests for admissions.
• Docket No. 1092-18S, Pedro Manzueta v. CIR (order here): this is a bench opinion disallowing overstated schedule C deductions, dependency exemptions, the earned income credit, and the child tax credit.
• Docket No. 13275-18S, Anthony S. Ventura & Suzanne M. Ventura v. CIR (order here): the Court grants a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction due to a petition filed after 90 days.
• Docket No. 14213-18L, Mohamed A. Hadid v. CIR (order here): a bench opinion finding no abuse of discretion and sustaining a levy in a case where the taxpayer proposed $30K/month installment agreement on condition that an NFTL not be filed, but the financial forms did not demonstrate that petitioner had the ability to pay that amount each month.
• Docket No. 5323-18L, Percy Young v. CIR (order here): the Court grants respondent’s motion to dismiss in a CDP case where petitioner did not provide any information.
• Docket No. 5323-18L, Ruben T. Varela v. CIR (order here): the Court denies petitioner’s motion for leave to file second amended petition.