Salman Ranch Ltd. v. United States

89 Fed. Cl. 653, 100 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6893, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 406, 2007 WL 4707751
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided December 6, 2007·No. No. 06-503T·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CHRISTINE O.C. MILLER, Judge.

On November 19, 2007, plaintiffs filed Plaintiffs’ Motion To Amend the Memorandum Opinion and Order of November 9, 2007, To Add the Statement Required for an Application for Interlocutory Appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2). Defendant filed its response on November 20, 2007, stating that “[t]he United States does not object to Plaintiffs’ Motion to amend the opinion of November 9, 2007, to add the statement required for an application for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2).” Def.’s Br. filed Nov. 20, 2007, at 1.

The opinion and order entered on November 9, 2007, denied plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and granted defendant’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment. See Salman Ranch, Ltd. v. United States, No. 06-503T, 79 Fed. Cl. 189, 196 (Fed.Cl.2007). Plaintiffs argued that the Internal Revenue Service’s (the “IRS”) Final Partnership Administrative Adjustment (the “FPAA”) for the partnership’s 1999 tax return was issued outside of the three-year [654]*654statute of limitations period prescribed in 26 U.S.C. (“I.R.C.”) §§ 6501 and 6229 (2000). Defendant countered that the FPAA was issued timely under the six-year statute of limitations extension period of I.R.C. § 6501(e) or, alternatively, I.R.C. § 6229(c)(2), due to the substantial omission of income from both the partnership’s and the partners’ individual 1999 income-tax returns. The resolution of the dispute turned on the application of I.R.C. § 6501(e)(1)(A), which provides:

If the taxpayer omits from gross income an amount properly includible therein which is in excess of 25 percent of the amount of gross income stated in the return, the tax may be assessed, or a proceeding in court for the collection of such tax may be begun without assessment, at any time within 6 years after the return was filed. For purposes of this subpara-graph—
i) In the ease of a trade or business, the term “gross income” means the total of the amounts received or accrued from the sale of goods or services (if such amounts are required to be shown on the return) prior to diminution by the cost of such sales or services; and
ii) In determining the amount omitted from gross income, there shall not be taken into account any amount which is omitted from gross income stated in the return if such amount is disclosed in the return, or in a statement attached to the return, in a manner adequate to apprise the Secretary of the nature and amount of such item.

Because no material facts were in dispute, the issues before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment were pure questions of law. The court concluded that the extended six-year statute of limitations applied and that the FPAA was timely. The court determined that (1) the partnership’s overstatement of basis in the ranch qualified as an omission from gross income under section 6501(e)(1)(A); (2) the sale of the ranch did not qualify as a sale of goods or services by a trade or business under section 6501(e)(1)(A)(i), the “gross receipts provision;” and (3) plaintiffs did not adequately disclose the amount omitted from gross income pursuant to section 6501(e)(1)(A)(ii), the “adequate disclosure provision.” The remaining issues in the case are complex factual issues regarding the tax consequences of the disputed transactions that must be resolved at trial.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2) (2000), plaintiffs seek certification for an interlocutory appeal with respect to the issue of whether the extended six-year statute of limitations contained in I.R.C. § 6501(e)(1)(A) or, alternatively, in I.R.C. § 6229(c)(2), applies to this ease. Defendant does not oppose plaintiffs’ motion for certification for an interlocutory appeal.

28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2) provides in pertinent part:

[W]hen any judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, in issuing an interlocutory order, includes in the order a statement that a controlling question of law is involved with respect to which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal from that order may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may, in its discretion, permit an appeal to be taken from such order, if application is made to that Court within ten days after the entry of such order.

The statute establishes a three-part test for certification that is “virtually identical to the statutory standard of certification utilized by the United States district courts.” Wolfchild v. United States, 78 Fed.Cl. 472, 481 (2007) (internal quotations omitted). Accordingly, the court must determine that (1) a controlling question of law is at issue, (2) the question presents a substantial ground for difference of opinion, and (3) certification of an immediate appeal materially could advance the ultimate termination of the litigation. These findings ensure that interlocutory review is the exception to the general “firm final judgment rale” observed by the federal courts. See Caterpillar Inc. v. Lewis, 519 U.S. 61, 74, 117 S.Ct. 467, 136 L.Ed.2d 437 (1996) (holding in context of companion 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) that “[rjoutine resort [to interlocutory appeals] would hardly comport [655]*655with Congress’ design to reserve interlocutory review for ‘exceptional’ eases while generally retaining for the federal courts a firm final judgment rule” (internal quotations omitted)). A decision to certify initially lies within the discretion of the trial judge; however, once the trial court certifies a question for interlocutory appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has complete “discretion in deciding whether it will grant permission to appeal an interlocutory order.” Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Dako N. Am., Inc., 477 F.3d 1335, 1336 (Fed.Cir.2007) (citing In re Convertible Rowing Exerciser Patent Litig., 903 F.2d 822 (Fed.Cir.1990)).

The fust requirement for certification is that the decision must involve a “controlling question of law.” 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2). Judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims, including the undersigned, have described a question of law as controlling when it “materially affeet[s] issues remaining to be decided in the trial court.” See Wolfchild, 78 Fed.Cl. at 483 (internal quotations omitted); AD Global Fund, LLC v. United States, 68 Fed.Cl. 663, 665 (2005) (internal quotations omitted); Jade Trading, LLC v. United States, 65 Fed.Cl. 443, 447 (2005) (internal quotations omitted).

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Salman Ranch Ltd. v. United States, 89 Fed. Cl. 653, 100 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6893, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 406, 2007 WL 4707751 (uscfc 2007).

89 Fed. Cl. 653 (Salman Ranch Ltd. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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