-64-
impermissible restriction to the statute.20 The functional
reasons for deference to agencies; i.e., the agencies’ expertise
and experience, do not carry the same force when interpreting the
word “manner” for purposes of the relevant text. The judiciary
has enough expertise and experience to ascertain congressional
intent with respect to that word, and any deference that is owed
to the Secretary does not mean that the judiciary as a matter of
course should simply ratify an unauthorized assumption by the
Secretary of major policy decisions properly made by Congress;
e.g., here, a foreign corporation’s forfeiture of deductions
absent its filing of a timely tax return.21 Cf. Estate of
19(...continued)
234, sec. 900(a), (k), 43 Stat. 336, 338, the Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit has noted that the Board “for all practical
purposes [was] a judicial tribunal operating in the federal
judicial system”. Stern v. Commissioner, 215 F.2d 701, 707-708
(3d Cir. 1954), revg. on other grounds 21 T.C. 155 (1953).
20 The improper addition to the statute is easily seen by
comparing sec. 882(c)(2) with sec. 1.882-4(a)(2), Income Tax
Regs., as amended in 1990. The two sections are essentially the
same, except that the regulation includes the word “timely”.
Respondent has not explained why sec. 1.882-4(a)(2), Income Tax
Regs., as amended in 1990, stated that a return must be filed
both “timely” and “in the manner prescribed in section F” if, as
he argues, the concept of “time” is subsumed within the statutory
phrase “in the manner prescribed in subtitle F”.
21 Absent a clear expression of legislative intent, we
believe it unreasonable to conclude, as did the Secretary in the
disputed regulations, that Congress intended for a foreign
corporation to forfeit any deduction of its otherwise deductible
ordinary and necessary business expenses simply because it filed
its tax return untimely. Cf. S. Rept. 1707, 89th Cong., 2d Sess.
26-27 (1966), 1966-2 C.B. 1059, 1076-1077 (noting as to
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