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T.C. 743, 765-767 (1980), affd. per curiam 673 F.2d 784
(5th Cir. 1982).
On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit also rejected the taxpayer's challenge to the
constitutionality of the alternative minimum tax imposed by
section 55. Okin v. Commissioner, 808 F.2d at 1341-1342.
The Court of Appeals rejected the taxpayer's argument that,
as applied in his case, the alternative minimum tax
constitutes a "taking of property without due process of
law and without adequate compensation." Id. The court
agreed that the effect of the alternative minimum tax was
to virtually nullify the taxpayer's tax savings under the
income averaging provisions but pointed out that that
effect was consistent with congressional intent. Id. at
1341. The court noted that "the due process clause
ordinarily places no limits upon the congressional taxing
power." Id. at 1341-1342; see A. Magnano Co. v. Hamilton,
292 U.S. 40, 44 (1934). The court further rejected the
taxpayer's contention that taking away the benefits of
averaging through the application of the alternative
minimum tax is discriminatory. According to the court, in
enacting the alternative minimum tax, Congress intended "to
remedy general taxpayer distrust of the system growing from
large numbers of taxpayers with large incomes who were yet
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