Ford Motor Company v. United States

508 F. App'x 506
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedDecember 17, 2012
Docket10-1934
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 508 F. App'x 506 (Ford Motor Company v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ford Motor Company v. United States, 508 F. App'x 506 (6th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) seeks approximately $445 million in interest that it believes has accrued on overpayments of its corporate income taxes. Ford contends that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), under 26 U.S.C. § 6611, was required to calculate overpayment interest from the earlier dates on which Ford submitted deposits to the IRS, rather than from the later dates on which Ford requested that those deposits be converted into advance payments of tax. The district court granted the government’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied Ford’s motion for summary judgment, finding reasonable the government’s interpretation of § 6611 — that overpayment interest be calculated only from the later dates of conversion. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

The facts giving rise to Ford’s legal claims are not in dispute. On September 9 and 27, 1991, July 6, 1992, and June 28, 1994, Ford submitted remittances to the IRS. In submitting these remittances, Ford specifically requested that they be treated as deposits in the nature of a cash bond. Ford made these remittances, amounting to several hundred millions of dollars, after it had been audited by and received 30-day letters from the IRS which notified Ford of proposed tax deficiencies incurred during 1983-1989, 1992, and 1994.

Subsequently, Ford requested that the IRS treat these remittances as advance payments — ie., payments towards proposed (not yet assessed) tax deficiencies— rather than as deposits in the nature of a cash bond. On December 19, 1994, Ford requested that part of the September 9, 1991 deposit be treated as an advance payment. One year later, on December 15, 1995, Ford requested that another portion of its September 9, 1991 deposit; portions of its deposits made on September 27, 1991 and July 6, 1992; and the entire June 23, 1994 deposit also be treated as advance payments. • The IRS obliged, and thus Ford effectively converted its deposits that were held in the nature of cash bonds into advance payments towards proposed past-due taxes.

At some point after the deposits were converted, the IRS determined that Ford had in fact overpaid its taxes for the years in question and issued refunds to Ford. These refunds included the amount that Ford overpaid and the interest that had accrued on its overpayment. Importantly — and at the heart of this dispute — the IRS calculated the amount of overpayment interest from the dates on which Ford requested that its deposits be converted to advance payments (ie., the “conversion dates” of December 19, 1994 and December 15, 1995), not from the earlier dates on which Ford remitted the deposits (ie., the *508 “remittance dates” of September 9 and 27, 1991, July 6, 1992, and June 23, 1994).

On July 10, 2008, Ford filed a complaint seeking approximately $445 million in interest that had allegedly accrued on over-payments of its corporate income taxes for 1988-1989, 1992, and 1994. The United States moved for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), Ford responded and also moved for summary judgment. On June 3, 2010, after conducting a hearing, the district court granted the government’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied Ford’s motion for summary judgment. Although the district court conceded that Ford’s argument “may have some merit,” it found reasonable the government’s position that there could be no overpayment of tax — and therefore no overpayment interest accrual — until Ford actually converted its deposits to advance payments. Thus, the court held that the government had correctly calculated Ford’s overpayment interest.

We review de novo the district court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings and its denial of summary judgment. Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. v. Am. Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co., 595 F.3d 308, 310 (6th Cir.2010).

II.

Corporate tax returns, like individual tax returns, are subject to audit by the IRS. See generally 34 Am.Jur.2d Federal Taxation ¶ 70000 (updated 2012). An audit may reveal that the corporate taxpayer has underpaid or overpaid its taxes for the year in question. If the audit reveals that a taxpayer has overpaid its taxes, then the taxpayer is entitled to the amount of the overpayment, plus interest on that overpayment. 26 U.S.C. § 6611(a); see generally 34 Am.Jur.2d Federal Taxation ¶ 70901 (updated 2012). The “overpayment interest” statute, 26 U.S.C. § 6611, reads as follows:

(a) Rate. — Interest shall be allowed and paid upon any overpayment in respect of any internal revenue tax at the overpayment rate established under section 6621.
(b) Period. — Such interest shall be allowed and paid as follows ...
(2) Refunds. — In the case of a refund, from the date of the overpayment to a date (to be determined by the Secretary) preceding the date of the refund check by not more than 30 days, whether or not such refund check is accepted by the taxpayer after tender of such check to the taxpayer ....

26 U.S.C. § 6611(a)-(b)(2) (emphases added). Conversely, if a taxpayer has underpaid taxes, he is liable for the amount of underpayment plus interest on that underpayment. The “underpayment interest” statute, 26 U.S.C. § 6601, reads as follows:

(a) General rule. — If any amount of tax imposed by this title ... is not paid on or before the last date prescribed for payment, interest on such amount at the underpayment rate established under section 6621 shall be paid for the period from such last date to the date paid.

Id. § 6601(a) (emphases added). Thus, § 6611 (taxpayer entitlement to overpayment interest) and § 6601 (taxpayer liability for underpayment interest) are functionally parallel in that they describe when interest starts and stops accruing.

Because it can take years for the IRS to complete an audit and resolve any administrative appeals related to a return, significant underpayment interest can accrue in the interim if a taxpayer has indeed underpaid. To avoid this possibility, a taxpayer may remit money to the IRS pursuant to Revenue Procedure 84-58 — before any tax liability is assessed — which will stop the *509 accrual of underpayment interest in the event that the taxpayer is later found to have underpaid. See Rev. Proc. 84-58, 1984-2 C.B. 501, superseded by Rev. Proc. 2005-18, 2005-1 C.B. 798.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ford Motor Company v. United States
768 F.3d 580 (Sixth Circuit, 2014)
Ford Motor Co. v. United States
134 S. Ct. 510 (Supreme Court, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
508 F. App'x 506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-motor-company-v-united-states-ca6-2012.