Central Reserve Life Corporation and Subsidiaries - Page 10




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               We agree with the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit             
          that the phrase “unpaid losses * * * not included in life                   
          insurance reserves” as used in section 816(c)(2) to define an               
          insurer’s “total reserves” does not include accrued unpaid losses           
          on CA&H insurance policies.  Our analysis starts with the                   
          statutory text, and we construe that text in accordance with its            
          ordinary, everyday meaning.  We refer to the legislative history            
          primarily to learn the purpose of the statute in which the                  
          language appears and to resolve any ambiguity in the words used             
          in the text.  See Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 511 U.S. 244                 
          (1994); Commissioner v. Soliman, 506 U.S. 168, 174 (1993);                  
          Consumer Prod. Safety Commn. v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102,           
          108 (1980); Crane v. Commissioner, 331 U.S. 1, 6 (1947); Venture            
          Funding, Ltd. v. Commissioner, 110 T.C. 236, 241-242 (1998);                
          Booth v. Commissioner, 108 T.C. 524, 568-569 (1997); Trans City             
          Life Ins. Co. v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 274, 299 (1996).                    
               The ordinary, everyday meaning of text is usually the                  
          meaning of the words or phrases therein that is commonly                    
          understood by the public in general; e.g., the most common                  
          dictionary definitions.  See, e.g., Mallard v. United States                
          Dist. Court for S. Dist., 490 U.S. 296, 301 (1989); National                
          Muffler Dealers Association, Inc. v. United States, 440 U.S. 472,           
          480 (1979); Crane v. Commissioner, supra at 6; Hefti v.                     
          Commissioner, 97 T.C. 180, 193 (1991), affd. 983 F.2d 868 (8th              





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