American Soc. of Ass'n Executives (ASAE) v. United States

23 F. Supp. 2d 64, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 7173, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17109, 1998 WL 758931
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 29, 1998
DocketCivil Action 95-918(SS)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 23 F. Supp. 2d 64 (American Soc. of Ass'n Executives (ASAE) v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Soc. of Ass'n Executives (ASAE) v. United States, 23 F. Supp. 2d 64, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 7173, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17109, 1998 WL 758931 (D.D.C. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

SPORKIN, District Judge.

This action to recover a refund of $56,900 in income taxes, arising out of plaintiffs election to apply the “proxy tax” option in 26 U.S.C. § 6033(e)(2) to its lobbying expenditures in fiscal year 1994 is presently before the Court on summary judgment motions by both the plaintiff and the defendant. At a hearing held before this Court on September 25, 1998 both sides agreed that the questions before the Court are questions of law, that there are no factual issues to be resolved and, accordingly, that the Court should rule on the motions.

Plaintiff, the American Society of Association Executives (“ASAE”), is a tax-exempt trade association under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(6) composed of approximately 22,300 association executives and staff members. ASAE engages in lobbying on behalf of its members and contends that the enforcement provisions of the lobbying tax, codified at 26 U.S.C. §§ 162(e)(3), 162(e)(5)(C) and 6033(e), impose financial “penalties” on tax-exempt associations (and their members) that engage in lobbying and are, therefore, unconstitutional. ASAE argues that the challenged provisions violate the First Amendment by deterring ASAE and its members from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association and to petition the government. ASAE also argues that the challenged provisions violate the Equal Protection clause of the Fifth Amendment by favoring private individuals and for-profit corporations over tax-exempt associations. Although it only was affected by the proxy tax and recordkeeping provisions of the statute, ASAE states that because it is raising a facial challenge this Court has jurisdiction to consider the challenged provisions in their entirety and not merely the provisions to which ASAE was subjected.

I. Procedural History

This is not the first time that this case has been before this Court. In April 1994 this Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in response to a declaratory judgment action challenging the lobbying tax brought by ASAE and ten other associations. In that action the plaintiffs asked this Court to declare the lobbying tax unconstitutional and to enjoin the Government from enforcing it. This Court held that the Anti-Injunction Act (“AIA”), 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a), deprived it of jurisdiction over the case and that the two recognized exceptions to the AIA were inapplicable because: (1) plaintiffs had not shown that the Government could not prevail under *66 any circumstances, as required by Enochs v. Williams Packing & Navigation Co., 370 U.S. 1, 82 S.Ct. 1125, 8 L.Ed.2d 292 (1962); and (2) plaintiffs had alternative legal remedies available to them. See South Carolina v. Regan, 465 U.S. 367, 104 S.Ct. 1107, 79 L.Ed.2d 372 (1984) (recognizing exception to AIA where plaintiff is left with no alternative legal remedy).

Regarding them alternative legal remedies, the Court held that the plaintiffs could either elect to pay the “proxy tax” on tax-exempt associations created by § 6033(e) and then bring a tax refund action in the United States District Court, or if the plaintiffs elected not to pay the proxy tax and instead notified their members, the members could then bring individual suits challenging the requirements of §§ 162(e) and 6033(e) in the United States Tax Court. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the plaintiffs complaint based on a lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the AIA. See American Society of Ass’n Executives v. Lloyd H. Bentsen, 848 F.Supp. 245 (D.D.C.1994) (hereinafter “ASAE I”). Familiarity with the Court’s prior opinion is assumed.

Following this Court’s decision in ASAE I plaintiff chose not to notify its members and instead paid its proxy tax liability for fiscal year 1994, which was $56,900. ASAE subsequently submitted an amended return to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) requesting a refund of the $56,900 on the ground that the lobbying tax provisions applicable to tax-exempt associations violate the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution. After six months had passed without a response from the IRS, ASAE filed this lawsuit. In its complaint, filed on May 15, 1995, ASAE requests: (1) a refund of the $56,900 plus interest, costs and attorney’s fees; and (2) injunctive relief preventing the Government from enforcing the lobbying tax against it or its members. See Cmplt. p. 17.

II. The Lobbying Tax

The challenged provisions, codified at 26 U.S.C. §§ 162(e)(3), 162(e)(5)(C), and 6033(e), were enacted by section 13222 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (H.R. 2264,103d Cong; 1st Sess.(1993)) (the “Act”). Prior to passage of the Act, section 162(e) of the Code allowed businesses to deduct direct lobbying expenses as business expenses. The Act amended the Code to withdraw the deduction for lobbying expenses incurred by businesses. The Act also contains provisions specifically aimed at enforcing Congress’ mandate against certain tax-exempt membership organizations that engage in lobbying. Those tax-exempt organizations previously had been able to deduct their lobbying expenses while their members could deduct their membership dues. Congress concluded that allowing such tax-exempt organizations to deduct their lobbying expenses amounted to a government subsidy of their lobbying activities.

In addition to withdrawing the tax deduction, the Act also includes provisions designed to close certain loopholes thus preventing the affected taxpayers from skirting Congress’ intent. These enforcement provisions include: (A) the “flow through provision;” (B) the “allocation provision;” (C) the “proxy tax;” (D) the “estimation provision;” (referred to by ASAE as the “overestimation penalty” and the “underestimation penalty”); and (E) the “carryover provision.”

A. Flow Through Provision § 162(e)(3)

The flow through provision provides:

No deduction shall be allowed under subsection (a) for the portion of dues or other similar amounts paid by the taxpayer to an organization which is exempt from tax under this subtitle which the organization notifies the taxpayer under § 6033(e)(l)(A)(ii) is allocable to expenditures to which paragraph (1) applies.

26 U.S.C.

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23 F. Supp. 2d 64, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 7173, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17109, 1998 WL 758931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-soc-of-assn-executives-asae-v-united-states-dcd-1998.