Coca-Cola Co. v. United States

87 Fed. Cl. 253, 103 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2513, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 199, 2009 WL 1578030
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 3, 2009
DocketNo. 03-1155 T
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 87 Fed. Cl. 253 (Coca-Cola Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Coca-Cola Co. v. United States, 87 Fed. Cl. 253, 103 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2513, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 199, 2009 WL 1578030 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

[254]*254OPINION and ORDER

BLOCK, Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This ease forces the court to wade, once again, into the ever-growing thicket that is the Internal Revenue Code (title 26 of the United States Code, hereinafter the “I.R.C.”). The question presented is a narrow, but prickly one — namely, whether plaintiff, the Coca-Cola Company, is entitled to interest on the overpayment of its taxes between March 15, 1985, and September 27, 1985. In support of its claim, plaintiff presents a stipulated decision of the United States Tax Court,1 which determined that plaintiff was entitled to nearly all of a net operating loss (“NOL”)2 carryback that it originally asserted in its 1985 tentative refund request. Joint Stipulation of Facts (“JSF”) ¶ 13. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) had issued the tentative refund within twelve days of plaintiffs request, but then, in 1991, it determined that the majority of plaintiffs asserted carryback was in error and, accordingly, assessed additional tax plus deficiency interest. JSF ¶¶ 8,11.

As a result of the Tax Court’s stipulated decision, the IRS has since abated plaintiffs taxes, resulting in a $12,352,648 overpayment in plaintiffs tax account between March 15, 1985, and September 27, 1985. JSF ¶¶ 14, 16. Plaintiff claims interest on this overpayment, citing I.R.C. § 6611(a), which provides that “[ijnterest shall be ... paid upon any overpayment in respect of any internal revenue tax.” Pl.’s Mot. Summ. J. at 7. Defendant disagrees and cites § 6611(e), which bars interest if the IRS refunds an overpayment within 45 days of the date on which the taxpayer filed its return. Def.’s Br. at 9. Defendant argues that because the IRS originally returned the requested amount within 45 days, no interest is now due. Def.’s Br. at 9-10. Defendant maintains this position, despite the IRS’s subsequent errant recapturing of the majority of plaintiffs tentative refund. Id.

The material facts in this case are not in dispute; the case turns on statutory interpretation alone. This court must examine the interaction between § 6411, which governs tentative refunds, and § 6611, which governs interest on overpayments. Both parties have moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) 56(e). For the reasons set forth below, the court denies defendant’s motion and grants summary judgment in favor of plaintiff.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 15, 1985, plaintiff filed an application for a tentative refund in the amount of $18,682,973 from its 1981 tax year, based on its assertion of a NOL carryback3 from its 1984 tax year.4 JSF ¶ 8. Twelve days later, the IRS allowed the carryback and issued the tentative refund. Id. The IRS then made other, unrelated adjustments in 1987 and 1989 to plaintiffs 1981 return. JSF ¶¶ 9-10.

On January 23, 1991, the IRS determined that the amount of plaintiff’s claimed carry-back from 1984 to 1981 was incorrect. JSF ¶ 11. The IRS reversed roughly two-thirds [255]*255of that carryback ($12,448,079), thereby increasing plaintiffs 1981 tax liability. Id. Using transfers from previous and subsequent tax year accounts, plaintiff paid $9,772,827 in additional tax and $3,780,719 in deficiency interest. Id. On April 8, 1991, plaintiff filed a claim for a refund of $13,086,842 plus interest. JSF ¶ 12.

On January 8, 1997, in a suit initiated by plaintiff, a stipulated decision of the United States Tax Court determined that there was “an overpayment in income tax for the taxable year 1981 in the amount of $12,352,648 ... which amount a claim for refund was filed on April 8, 1991.” Coca-Cola Co. v. Comm’r, No. 17171-91, slip op. at *1 (Jan. 8, 1997).5 Pursuant to this decision, on May 19, 1997, the IRS abated $12,352,648 in taxes and $5,531,965.47 in deficiency interest. JSF ¶ 14. This abatement originated from an increase in the carryback that plaintiff initially asserted in 1985. JSF ¶ 15. However, the IRS did not post any overpayment interest to plaintiffs 1981 tax account. Id. Plaintiff filed its complaint in this court on May 6, 2003, claiming $2,749,852.98 in interest based on the interim overpayment of $12,352,648 that existed between March 15, 1985 and September 27, 1985 after the IRS abated plaintiffs 1981 taxes.6 Compl. ¶ 15; Pl.’s Resp. at 9-13.

Prior to this court’s order of September 24, 2008, defendant asserted that the Tucker Act’s six-year statute of limitations, set forth at 28 U.S.C. § 2501,7 barred plaintiffs claim in this court. See Def.’s Br. at 14-16. Defendant argued that the statute of limitations on plaintiffs claim for overpayment interest began to run on September 27,1985, the date on which the IRS originally paid plaintiff its tentative refund. Def.’s Br. at 16 (“Any such claim ... ought to have been filed before September 27, 1991, to have come within the six-year statute of limitations.”). Defendant maintained that' position because defendant interpreted plaintiffs complaint as asserting that the “overpayment refunded to plaintiff on September 27, 1985 ... ought to have borne interest” — a characterization that plaintiff vehemently denied. Def.’s Br. at 15-16; see Pl.’s Resp. at 22 (“[The above statement] is not the position of the plaintiff. It is not found in the record.”).

Plaintiff agreed that § 2501 governed this suit, but disagreed as to when its claim began to accrue. See Pl.’s Resp. at 21. Plaintiff argued that a claim for overpayment interest begins to accrue when “a reasonable taxpayer should have become aware that [its] cause of action started to accrue.” Id. Thus, plaintiff concluded that its claim began to accrue no earlier than May 19, 1997 — the date on which the IRS abated plaintiffs tax, thereby placing plaintiff on notice of its claim for overpayment interest. Id. While plaintiffs assertion was correct under the common law, it was incorrect with regard to a claim for overpayment interest. See Barnes v. United States, 133 Ct.Cl. 546, 548-49, 137 F.Supp. 716 (1956) (holding that a claim for interest accrues when the Commissioner of Internal Revenue [the predecessor to today’s IRS] signs the schedule of overassessments, and “the fact ... plaintiff was not notified of the Commissioner’s action ... does not prevent the [claim’s] accrual”); Gen. Instrument Corp. v. United States, 33 Fed.Cl. 4, 8 (1995) (holding that in a claim for overpayment interest, the common law doctrine governing the accrual of claims is “ultimately irrelevant”).

In its September 24, 2008 order, this court, sua sponte,8 raised the possibility that nei[256]*256ther party was correct. Order at 1. The court explained that “plaintiff’s claim for statutory interest likely accrued, and therefore, the statute of limitations began to run, on the date an authorized official signed the scheduling (e.g., Form 21889 or its equivalent) of the May 19, 1997 abatement of plaintiffs 1981 taxes.” Order at 4 (citing Barnes, 133 Ct.Cl. at 548, 137 F.Supp.

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87 Fed. Cl. 253, 103 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2513, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 199, 2009 WL 1578030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coca-cola-co-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.