American College of Tax Counsel Announces New Fellows as Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Important Tax Case

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• USA - English

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 8, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- At its recent May 1, 2020 meeting, the Board of Regents of the American College of Tax Counsel ("ACTC" or the "College") elected 13 new Fellows into its ranks. The new Fellows are:

Daniel G. Baucum, Daniel Baucum Law PLLC, Dallas, TX; Judith W. Boyette, Hanson Bridgett LLP, San Francisco, CA; Caroline Bruckner, American University Kogod School of Business, Washington, DC; Dan Eller, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Portland, OR; Pamela A. Fuller, Tully Rinckey PLLC, New York, NY; Alan W. Granwell, Holland & Knight LLP, Washington, DC; Michael J.A. Karlin, Karlin & Peebles, LLP, Los Angeles, CA; Cristin Conley Keane, Carlton Fields, P.A., Tampa, FL; Emily Lam, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Palo Alto, CA; Matthew J. Landwehr, Thompson Coburn LLP, St. Louis, MO; Ofer Lion, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Los Angeles, CA; Silvio Reggiardo, III, Downey Brand LLP, Sacramento, CA; and Lydia B. Turanchik, Nardiello Turanchik LLP, Century City, CA.

The College congratulates its new Fellows and extends a warm welcome to each of them.

Supreme Court Accepts Important Tax Case Regarding Challenges to IRS Regulations

Separately, on May 4, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had granted certiorari in CIC Services, LLC v. Internal Revenue Service (No. 19-930), a case in which ACTC filed an amicus brief supporting the petition for certiorari. The Court will address the question of whether the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits lawsuits to restrain assessing or collecting taxes, also bars challenges to regulatory mandates that are not themselves taxes.

The College supported the petition for certiorari because the Supreme Court alone can resolve the growing circuit court split on whether taxpayers can bring pre-enforcement challenges to rules issued in contravention of the Administrative Procedure Act or other Congressionally-mandated requirements. ACTC President Peter Connors explained that "a nationwide rule would provide certainty to taxpayers and would ensure uniform enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations. ACTC files briefs in cases like this to advance the rule of law and support fair and effective tax administration."

Now that the Court has agreed to hear the case during its upcoming October 2020 term, it will decide whether taxpayers can challenge tax rules when they are issued or whether they instead must wait for the Internal Revenue Service to enforce the rule before they can challenge the validity of the rules. "Given the large volume of regulatory guidance issued by the Treasury Department and the IRS, particularly in the context of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the CARES Act of 2020, the need for clarity on whether taxpayers can raise pre-enforcement challenges to the validity of such rules is particularly acute now," said Armando Gomez, a member of ACTC's Board of Regents.

The ACTC amicus brief, which was approved for filing by the Board of Regents, was drafted by David W. Foster, Armando Gomez and Sanessa Griffiths of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, DC.

About the American College of Tax Counsel

The American College of Tax Counsel is a professional association of tax attorneys comprised of tax lawyers in private practice as well as those teaching tax law in law schools or working in federal or state revenue agencies. Members of the College, known as Fellows, are elected to membership after receiving a peer nomination and successfully passing evaluation of their candidacy. The College is currently composed of approximately 700 Fellows. The College is governed by a 19-member Board of Regents, including the four members of the Executive Committee and one Regent elected from each federal judicial circuit, along with two Regents serving at-large. The College fulfills important functions regarding the nation's tax system by providing recommendations to Congress and the IRS on improving federal tax laws and administration and by filing "friend of the court" briefs in selected tax cases.

SOURCE American College of Tax Counsel