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The same rationale applies to other situations pointed to by
petitioner where foreign tax credits are involved, e.g., a 10-
year statute of limitations for refunds of such credits, the
inapplicability of "quickie" refunds, and the relation back of
deductions in respect of disputed foreign taxes.
The long and the short of the matter is that we think that
the statutory provisions are not so explicit as to require us to
conclude that Congress intended that interest be denied to a
taxpayer on overpayments due to carrybacks of foreign taxes but
that a taxpayer who fails to pay his taxes when due is relieved
of interest on the ground that such carrybacks reduce his
underpayment. This result would be "eccentric" if not "absurd",
adjectives that should be avoided when dealing with actions by
the legislature. See Dunn Trust v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. 745,
755 (1986).
As we see it, the principle of symmetry in respect of the
obligation for interest owed to or by the Government is mandated
by the historical development of legislative and judicial action.
Such development has continued to reflect the continued vitality
of Seeley Tube & Box Co. and Koppers Co.. We hold, as did the
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Fluor Corp. &
Affiliates, that an underpayment, i.e., a deficiency, is not
reduced by a carryback of foreign taxes for purposes of computing
interest.
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