National Australia Bank v. United States

63 Fed. Cl. 352, 95 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 332, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 349, 2004 WL 3049318
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedDecember 29, 2004
DocketNo. 99-690C
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 63 Fed. Cl. 352 (National Australia Bank 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.

Bluebook
National Australia Bank v. United States, 63 Fed. Cl. 352, 95 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 332, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 349, 2004 WL 3049318 (uscfc 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

BRUGGINK, Judge.

Pending in this Winstar-related1 tax benefit case are plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment. In a prior opinion, National Australia Bank v. United States, 55 Fed.Cl. 782 (2003), we ruled that the government’s action — the retroactive elimination of the deduction for covered-asset losses through the passage of the Guarini legislation in 19932 — breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in its express contract with Michigan National Corporation (“MNC”), plaintiffs predecessor in interest.3

In dispute is the proper damage award, if any, due plaintiff. Plaintiffs motion asks the court to find that, because of the Guarini legislation, it was not permitted to deduct $103,155,357 in covered-asset losses on its tax returns and, as a result, paid an additional $36,135,373 in taxes it would not have otherwise paid. It asks that it be awarded 75% of that amount, or $27,101,530, which it argues is its share of the tax benefits under the agreement.

In its cross-motion, defendant asks the court to deny plaintiffs claim for damages altogether because plaintiff cannot establish the tax basis of any of the specific covered assets that are the foundation of its claim. Alternatively, defendant argues that plaintiffs calculations overstate the correct amount, and that a genuine issue of fact exists to make summary judgment inappropriate. Finally, defendant asks the court to rule that, as a matter of law, plaintiff is entitled under the agreement to only 50% of any lost tax benefits and that any award should be adjusted accordingly. The matter [354]*354has been fully briefed. Oral argument was held on December 9, 2004. For the reasons set out below, we grant plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. Defendant’s motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

The background facts giving rise to this litigation can be found in our earlier decisions. Id. (finding that the enactment of the Guarini legislation was a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing); Nat’l Austl. Bank v. United States, 54 Fed.Cl. 238 (2002) (finding that National Australia Bank had standing to bring breach claim). Familiarity with those facts is assumed. Consequently, only a brief summary of the background follows.

MNC entered into an agreement (“Assistance Agreement”) with the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation (“FSLIC”) to acquire a failing thrift, Beverly Hills Savings & Loan (“Beverly Hills”),4 on December 31, 1988. Under the express terms of the Assistance Agreement, FSLIC was to reimburse MNC for certain covered-asset losses. Under applicable tax law, the reimbursements for covered-asset losses would not be includable in MNC’s taxable income, and MNC could deduct those losses from its taxable income. These factors were important, bargained-for elements of the Assistance Agreement.

“Covered Asset” was defined in section l(q) of the Assistance Agreement. It generally included all assets on the books of Beverly Hills at the time of acquisition. The Assistance Agreement also provided that reimbursement of covered-asset losses would be determined by subtracting the proceeds of its disposition, or the amount of any write down directed or approved by FSLIC, from the book basis of that asset. The parties accounted for these covered-asset losses in a Special Reserve Account (“SRA”) maintained by Beverly Hills. Unlike FSLIC reimbursements of covered-asset losses, taxable gains or losses on covered assets were computed as the difference between the proceeds received upon disposition or sale of an asset and the tax basis of that asset. Thus, an asset’s tax basis is the starting point for computing taxable gain or loss at the time of the asset’s disposition.

In connection with the acquisition, MNC attempted repeatedly to determine the preacquisition tax basis of the failing thrift’s covered assets. This was made difficult by the condition of Beverly Hills’s records, which have been described as a “mess.” Pri- or to acquisition, MNC engaged Deloitte, Haskins, & Sells (“Deloitte”) to review the tax returns and financial statements of Beverly Hills. On December 28, 1988, Deloitte informed MNC that, for the 1984 to 1987 period, Beverly Hills reflected losses of $1.1 billion on its financial statements but only reported tax losses of approximately $750 million on its tax returns. Based on those figures, Deloitte concluded that, by the end of 1987, the aggregate tax basis of covered assets exceeded the aggregate book basis by over $350 million.5

Shortly after acquisition, MNC again sought review of the pre-acquisition tax returns of Beverly Hills. MNC selected the firm of Coopers & Lybrand (“Coopers”), which had previously delivered tax services to Beverly Hills when it was under FSLIC control. The Coopers review concluded that Beverly Hills’s pre-acquisition aggregate tax basis exceeded its aggregate book basis by over $210 million.6 An asset-by-asset list of the tax basis of each covered asset was not located by either firm. Based on the two [355]*355reviews, MNC took the position in its tax returns for 1989,1990, and 1991 that the preacquisition tax basis of covered assets was at least equivalent to their book basis.

The Assistance Agreement required MNC to maximize the tax benefits for covered-asset losses because those benefits were shared with FSLIC. Section 9(f) of the Assistance Agreement addressed the appropriate tax benefit sharing ratio:

Applicable Percentage. For each fiscal year as of the beginning of which the Net Investment Account of the ACQUIRER is greater than zero, the Applicable Percentage shall be twenty-five percent (25%). For each fiscal year as of the beginning of which the Net Investment Amount of the ACQUIRER is equal to or less than zero, the Applicable Percentage shall be fifty percent (50%).

While the Assistance Agreement contemplated that the 50% tax-sharing ratio would be triggered at some point, the formula in section l(kk) of the Assistance Agreement was drafted in such a way that the sharing rate would never reach 50/50 because the balance of the Net Investment Account, in practice, would never reach zero.7 Therefore, FSLIC, and later its successor agency the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), received only 25% of the tax benefits enjoyed by MNC until the Guarini legislation was enacted in 1993.

For every year from 1989 until 1994, when the Assistance Agreement was terminated, first FSLIC and then FDIC audited MNC to ensure it was maximizing the tax benefits for covered-asset losses.8 The IRS, which also audited MNC during this period, did not question the deduction of covered-asset losses until after the passage of the Guarini legislation, when tax deductions for reimbursed covered-asset losses were retroactively eliminated.

The Assistance Agreement was subsequently terminated by a second agreement (“Termination Agreement”) on September 29,1994. According to its recital, the Termination Agreement provided for the following: (1) early termination of the Assistance Agreement; (2) “settlement of certain disputes under the Assistance Agreement”; and (3) prepayment of a promissory note issued by FDIC.

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

Related

Northrop Grumman Computing Systems, Inc. v. United States
120 Fed. Cl. 460 (Federal Claims, 2015)
Dobyns v. United States
118 Fed. Cl. 289 (Federal Claims, 2014)
Keeter Trading Co. v. United States
79 Fed. Cl. 243 (Federal Claims, 2007)
North Star Alaska Housing Corp. v. United States
76 Fed. Cl. 158 (Federal Claims, 2007)
National Australia Bank v. United States
74 Fed. Cl. 435 (Federal Claims, 2006)
Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority v. United States
65 Fed. Cl. 534 (Federal Claims, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 Fed. Cl. 352, 95 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 332, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 349, 2004 WL 3049318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-australia-bank-v-united-states-uscfc-2004.