164
Stevens, J., dissenting
The Court is properly concerned about the potential for abuse associated with an employer's transfer of property to a pension plan. See ante, at 160. It is worth noting, however, that the risk of abuse is mitigated by the fact that the trustees of a pension plan have the right—indeed, the duty— to refuse to accept property transfers that are disadvantageous to the trust. See generally 29 U. S. C. § 1104. Indeed, there may well be situations in which a rule that disables the trustees from accepting any consideration other than cash may be contrary to the best interests of the trust. For example, one can easily imagine a situation in which the trustees, acting prudently and in the best interests of the plan beneficiaries, would prefer that an employer transfer an undervalued piece of property to the plan, as opposed to selling the property to a third party at a discount and satisfying its funding obligation in cash. Though the majority's reading of the statute is plausible, I am not persuaded that Congress intended to so restrict employers and pension plan trustees.
I respectfully dissent.
is not a "sale or exchange" between the employer and the plan within the meaning of § 4975(c)(1)(A) because it was not made in satisfaction of a mandatory funding obligation.
The Commissioner's argument, in my view, places more weight on the words "between a plan" in § 4975(c)(1)(A) than they can reasonably bear. The Commissioner asks that we accept the hypothesis that Congress drew upon a settled body of law regarding the terms "sale or exchange" in the income tax context, but then, by the use of these three words, departed from that settled usage and drew a distinction between voluntary and involuntary contributions that had been roundly rejected in the case law and by the Internal Revenue Service itself. Again, as did the Court of Appeals and the Tax Court, I find it more likely that Congress intended that we construe § 4975(c)(1)(A) in its context, and independent of the meaning attributed to the term "sale or exchange" in other parts of the Internal Revenue Code.
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