Dudley B. and La Donna K. Merkel - Page 10

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          Commissioner, 94 T.C. 863, 865 (1990), affd. 954 F.2d 653 (11th             
          Cir. 1992); U.S. Padding Corp. v. Commissioner, 88 T.C. 177, 184            
          (1987), affd. 865 F.2d 750 (6th Cir. 1989).  Where the statute is           
          ambiguous, it is well established that we may look to its                   
          legislative history and to the reason for its enactment.  See               
          United States v. American Trucking Associations, supra at 543-              
          544; Centel Communications Co. v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 612, 628            
          (1989), affd. 920 F.2d 1335 (7th Cir. 1990); U.S. Padding Corp.             
          v. Commissioner, supra at 184.                                              
               In the context of the parties' dispute, we believe that the            
          term “liabilities” in section 108(d)(3) is ambiguous, in                    
          particular as to the nature of the examination to be afforded to            
          obligations claimed to be liabilities for purposes of the                   
          statutory insolvency calculation.1  Therefore, this Court shall             
          examine the legislative purpose of the insolvency exclusion and             
          its related provisions.                                                     
                    2.  Legislative History                                           
               The insolvency exclusion was added to the Code by the                  
          Bankruptcy Tax Act of 1980 (the Bankruptcy Tax Act), Pub. L. 96-            
          589, sec. 2(a), 94 Stat. 3389-3392.  In the Bankruptcy Tax Act,             
          which was enacted 2 years after Congress revised and modernized             

          1    Previous cases provide only limited guidance in resolving              
          the question presented in this case.  See, e.g., Correra v.                 
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-356; Ng v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.           
          1997-248; Caton v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-80; Traci v.               
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-708; Bressi v. Commissioner, T.C.             
          Memo. 1991-651, affd. without published opinion 989 F.2d 486 (3d            
          Cir. 1993).                                                                 



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