544
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
§ 6511(a), ibid., do impose such a limit—a refund claim may be filed only "by the taxpayer." The Court discounts the notion that the term "taxpayer" limits administrative relief to the party assessed by concluding that such a construction "is inconsistent with other provisions of the refund scheme." Ibid. The "other provisions" cited by the Court, however, are in no way inconsistent with the above construction of § 6511(a): the fact that the Secretary is authorized to re-fund any overpayment to "the person who made the over-payment," § 6402(a), or to "the person who paid the tax," §§ 6416(a), 6419(a), does not mean that such a person may bring suit if she disagrees with the Secretary's calculation of the amount of the overpayment. And even if such an inconsistency did exist, an "inconsistency" is not enough to carry the day when dealing with a waiver of sovereign immunity; "inconsistency" simply means ambiguity, and because a waiver of sovereign immunity must be " 'unequivocally expressed,' " any ambiguity is construed in favor of immunity. United States v. Nordic Village, Inc., 503 U. S. 30, 33 (1992).
The Court proceeds to argue that, even if only "taxpayers" could seek administrative relief under § 6511, respondent qualifies as a "taxpayer." Ante, at 535. That term is defined in the Code as "any person subject to any internal revenue tax." § 7701(a)(14). The Court says this phrase is "broad enough to include [respondent]" because the Government "place[d] a lien on her home and then accept[ed] her tax payment." Ante, at 535. This is remarkably imprecise reasoning.
Respondent was subjected to a tax lien, but this does not mean she was "subject to any internal revenue tax" in the normal sense of that phrase as used in the Code. The tax was assessed against Rabin, not respondent, and respondent has equivocated as to whether she is simply challenging the lien or also challenging Rabin's underlying tax assessment. The underlying tax, and the lien to enforce liability for that tax, are obviously two different things. One may have a tax
Page: Index Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007