Federal Taxation

In 2003 the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit published few tax decisions of any importance. In the Circuit's highest profile tax case of 2003, the court vacated a lower court decision that had held section 527(j) of the Internal Revenue Code unconstitutional. In other procedural cases, the court held that Rule 183 of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure did not raise due process concerns, and, in a case of first impression, ruled that in determining the total revenue lost in cases concerning fraudulent corporate and personal returns, the losses from unreported corporate income and unreported personal income must be aggregated without reducing the personal income for corporate taxes that should have been paid. In the most important substantive tax case of 2003, the court held that bill credits paid by a public utility to refund previously collected amounts were rate reductions and thus did not qualify for special treatment under section 1341.