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LARO, J., concurring: The United States Tax Court is a
court of law that, like the United States District Courts, has
the authority to apply equitable principles such as equitable
recoupment. The majority holds as much, and I agree. I write
separately to emphasize the fact that this Court, although
different from District Courts in a few regards, the most obvious
of which is that District Courts were created under Article III
of the U.S. Constitution whereas this Court was created under
Article I of the U.S. Constitution, is a court of law that has
the authority to apply all of the judicial powers of a District
Court.
This Court's predecessors, namely, the Board of Tax Appeals
and the Tax Court of the United States, were not courts of law,
and they did not possess the judicial powers of a District Court.
This Court's predecessors were independent agencies in the
executive branch of the Federal Government, and, as such, their
powers were limited to those powers conferred upon them by the
executive branch. See Commissioner v. Gooch Milling & Elevator
Co., 320 U.S. 418 (1943); Old Colony Trust Co. v. Commissioner,
279 U.S. 716, 725 (1929). The fact that this Court's
predecessors were executive agencies and not courts of law made
them fundamentally different from the District Courts. The fact
that this Court’s predecessors were executive agencies and not
courts of law made them fundamentally different from this Court.
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