Cite as: 531 U. S. 206 (2001)
Breyer, J., dissenting
(1960) (abandoning literal meaning of 26 U. S. C. § 1221 (1958 ed.) for a reading more consistent with congressional intent). Accord, Commissioner v. P. G. Lake, Inc., 356 U. S. 260, 264- 267 (1958); Corn Products Refining Co. v. Commissioner, 350 U. S. 46, 51-52 (1955); Hort v. Commissioner, 313 U. S. 28, 30-31 (1941).
The arguments from plain text on both sides here produce ambiguity, not certainty. And other things being equal, we should read ambiguous statutes as closing, not maintaining, tax loopholes. Such is an appropriate understanding of Congress' likely intent. Here, other things are equal, for, as far as I am aware, the Commissioner's literal interpretation of § 108(d)(7)(A) as exclusive would neither cause any tax-related harm nor create any statutory anomaly. Petitioners argue that it would create a linguistic inconsistency, for they point to a Treasury Regulation that says that the Commissioner will apply hobby loss limitations under § 183 "at the corporate level in determining" allowable deductions, while, presumably, nonetheless permitting the deduction so limited to flow through to the shareholder. Treas. Reg. § 1.183-1(f), 26 CFR § 1.183-1(f) (2000). But we are concerned here with the "application" of an exclusion, not with "determining" the amount of a deduction. Regardless, the regulation's use of the words "at the corporate level," like the three other appearances of the formulation "applied" or "determined" "at the corporate level" in the Code, occur in contexts that are so very different from this one that nothing we say here need affect their interpretation. See 26 U. S. C. § 49(a)(1)(E)(ii)(I) (determining whether financing is recourse financing); 26 U. S. C. § 264(f)(5)(B) (1994 ed., Supp. III) (determining how to allocate interest expense to portions of insurance policies); 26 U. S. C. § 302(e)(1)(A) (determining whether a stock distribution shall be treated as a partial liquidation). If there are other arguments militating in favor of the majority's interpretation, I have not found them.
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