Western Co. of North America v. United States

52 Fed. Cl. 51, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 65, 2002 WL 463675
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 21, 2002
DocketNo. 00-564 T
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 52 Fed. Cl. 51 (Western Co. of North America 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
Western Co. of North America v. United States, 52 Fed. Cl. 51, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 65, 2002 WL 463675 (uscfc 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

DAMICH, Judge.

The subject matter of this case includes a claim for an income tax credit for diesel fuel excise taxes that were allegedly overpaid by Plaintiff and a claim for refund of a wrongfully imposed, fraudulent failure-to-file (“FTF”) penalty. Before the Court are two motions to dismiss the complaint in part. First, Defendant seeks to dismiss the complaint in part under Rule of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) 12(b)(4) because Plaintiffs claims for income tax credit for diesel fuel taxes for 1993 and 1994 are barred by the “one-claim” rule of 26 U.S.C. § 6427(i)(l).1 Second, Defendant seeks to dismiss the complaint in part pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1) because Plaintiffs FTF penalty claim is barred by the substantial variance doctrine. [53]*53For the reasons discussed below, both of Defendant’s motions to dismiss in part are GRANTED.

1. Background

Pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 4091, producers or importers of diesel fuel to the United States were required to pay a tax on any sale of diesel fuel in 1993.2 Beginning in 1994, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 4081, that tax was imposed on the removal of a taxable fuel from a refinery or terminal, or upon entry of any taxable fuel into the United States for consumption, use, or warehousing.3 However, in both tax years an ultimate purchaser of diesel fuel could recover the tax imposed on it if the diesel fuel was used in vehicles for certain “nontaxable uses” pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6427(1).4 An ultimate purchaser of diesel fuel could recover the tax either by means of a refund under 26 U.S.C. § 6427(1) (subject to the limitation contained in 26 U.S.C. § 6427(k)) or by means of a tax credit under 26 U.S.C. § 34(a). In its complaint, Plaintiff maintains that, as an ultimate purchaser of diesel fuel, it is entitled to a diesel fuel tax credit for fuel that it used in certain mobile equipment units, which are not “highway vehicles,” as that term is defined in 26 C.F.R. §§ 41.4482(c) and 48.4061(a)-l(d) during tax years 1993 and 1994.

Plaintiff filed corporate income tax returns, on Form 1120, for 1993 and 1994, including with each return a Form 4136 on which it claimed diesel fuel credits. It sought $45,637 in diesel fuel credits for 1993 and $84,392 for 1994. On March 19, 1997, and March 17, 1997, respectively, Plaintiff filed an amended income tax return on Form 1120X and an amended diesel tax credit claim on Form 4136 for each amended return, claiming a different rate of fuel usage from that claimed on the original Forms 4136 for tax years 1993 and 1994. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued refunds to Plaintiff for both years in May and June 1997.5

Believing that it was entitled to additional fuel credits, on September 12,1997, and September 15, 1998, Plaintiff filed, for tax years 1993 and 1994, two amended tax returns on Form 1120X, including an amended diesel fuel credit claim on Form 4136 for each amended income tax return. Plaintiff sought additional income tax credits for use of diesel fuel in the amounts of $304,719 plus interest for tax year 1993 and $377,018 plus interest for year 1994. These claims were disallowed by the IRS on February 9, 1999, and February 24, 2000. Both claims were disallowed by the IRS on the ground that Plaintiff was not permitted to file more than one claim for tax credit under 26 U.S.C. § 6427(i)(l), which provides as follows:

§ 6427 FUELS NOT USED FOR TAXABLE PURPOSES
(i) Time for Filing Claims; Period Covered.—
(1) General Rule — Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), not more than [54]*54one claim may be filed under subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), (g), (h), (l), or (q) by any person with respect to fuel used ... during his taxable year, and no claim shall be allowed under this paragraph with respect to fuel used ... during any taxable year unless filed by the purchaser not later than the time prescribed by law for filing a claim for credit or refund of overpayment of income tax for such taxable year.

26 U.S.C. § 6427(i)(l) (1988 & Supp. IV 1992).6

In its second amended tax return for year 1993, filed on September 12, 1997, Plaintiff also reported an amended net change in taxable income for year 1993 in Part I, line 3, column (b) of Form 1120X in the amount of $310,938. However, the IRS mistakenly coded this amount as a fraudulent failure-to-file return (“FTF”) penalty under 26 U.S.C. § 6651(f). On December 8, 1997, the IRS assessed the FTF penalty together with interest of $37,251.18 on Plaintiff.

Plaintiff claims to have first received notice of an unpaid income tax liability for 1993 on January 14, 1998, when it received a Final Notice of unpaid taxes and intent to levy to collect. On January 21, 1998, Plaintiff contacted the IRS about the unpaid tax liability. When told that the assessment was for a fraud penalty, Plaintiff requested documentation to support it. In response, the IRS sent to Plaintiff a Record of Accounts, which included the assessed FTF penalty. The IRS formally notified Plaintiff by letter on April 13, 1998, that it had satisfied the FTF penalty by applying overpayment credits from Plaintiffs heavy-vehiele-use tax account for the taxable period beginning on July 1, 1994, through June 30, 1995. The amount of credits applied in satisfaction of the FTF penalty and interest totaled $348,189.58. Although Plaintiff protested the IRS’s barring of its second amended claim for credits for diesel fuel taxes for year 1993 due to the one-claim rule of § 6427(i), it never protested the FTF penalty assessment or payment nor did it ever file a formal claim or otherwise amend any outstanding claims before the IRS regarding diesel fuel taxes to address the FTF penalty issue.

II. Failure-to-File Return Penalty

Plaintiff argues that it has filed suit to compel the IRS to comply with 26 U.S.C. §§ 6401 and 6402.

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Computervision Corp. v. United States
445 F.3d 1355 (Federal Circuit, 2006)
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323 F.3d 1024 (Federal Circuit, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 Fed. Cl. 51, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 65, 2002 WL 463675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/western-co-of-north-america-v-united-states-uscfc-2002.