2025-11-14
Yesterday the Tax Court published Apache Corp. v. Commr., 165 T.C. No. 11 (2025).
Every day I download the Tax Court opinions, and I have a Python script that extracts all of the code sections that were cited in the opinion. Yesterday’s opinion cited to Code §173. This code section deals with “Circulation Expenditures” - not a typical code section.
When I searched for the cite, I noted that it appeared to be a mistake. The cite was found on Page 19 in the following text:
The opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part (for convenience, dissent) appears to premise its conclusion in significant part on the fact that “[i]n 1976, when Congress enacted the carryback waiver rule that now appears in section 173(b)(3), an election under that rule was necessarily an all-or-nothing matter.” See Halpern dissenting op. p. 25. [Emphasis added]
The opinion was dealing with net operating losses, the subject of Code §172. This was a reviewed opinion with all 19 judges reviewing the decision, and none of those judges caught the mistake. Furthermore, the mistake was within a quotation where the quote was from the exact same opinion. The Tax Court sometimes issues corrected opinions. I wonder if they will correct this mistake.