Sandra G. Venable - Page 17

                                       - 17 -                                         
          not exceed what has been upheld in other tax litigation.  See,              
          e.g., Licari v. Commissioner, 946 F.2d 690 (9th Cir. 1991)                  
          (upholding application of tax penalty passed in 1986 to returns             
          previously filed for years 1982 through 1984), affg. T.C. Memo.             
          1990-4; Canisius Coll. v. United States, 799 F.2d 18, 26-27 (2d             
          Cir. 1986) (upholding 4-year retroactive application); Temple               
          Univ. v. United States, 769 F.2d 126 (3d Cir. 1985) (upholding at           
          least a 4-year retroactive application); Rocanova v. United                 
          States, 955 F. Supp. 27 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (upholding retroactive              
          application of amendment extending statute of limitation on tax             
          collection actions from 6 to 10 years), affd. 109 F.3d 127 (2d              
          Cir. 1997).  As the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has              
          observed:  “The Supreme Court has never explicitly imposed a time           
          limit on the retroactivity of a tax statute’s application.”                 
          Wiggins v. Commissioner, supra at 316.  Accordingly, the Court of           
          Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has further opined that “the ‘harsh           
          and oppressive’ test * * * does not limit retroactivity to one              
          year, but instead requires a case-by-case analysis in which the             
          length of the period affected is but one factor to be                       
          considered.”  Id.                                                           
               To summarize, we conclude that, to the extent petitioner               
          raises issues of retroactivity, application of the amendment to             
          section 104 would not violate the standards requiring a rational            
          purpose and reasonable period.  The tests employed to evaluate              






Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011