Forum
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Case Status
Decided
Docket Number
Oral Argument Date
October 16, 2018
Case Updates
Rehearing en banc denied
November 12, 2019
Click here to view the denial order and dissent. The U.S. Chamber filed amicus briefs at the initial panel stage, at the second panel stage after the court sua sponte vacated the first panel’s opinion, and again in support of rehearing after the second panel’s opinion.
U.S. Chamber files amicus brief in support of petition for rehearing en banc
August 01, 2019
Click here to view the Chamber’s amicus brief urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold the tax court’s rejection of “tax exceptionalism.”
Chris Walker served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Divided Ninth Circuit panel reverses unanimous Tax Court decision holding that IRS violated Administrative Procedure Act regarding cost-sharing arrangements
June 07, 2019
Click here to view the opinion after reargument of the case.
U.S. Chamber files supplemental amicus brief in rehearing of Altera case before newly appointed Ninth Circuit panel, arguing the panel should affirm the Tax Court’s judgment that IRS violated the Administrative Procedure Act
September 28, 2018
Click here to view the Chamber’s supplemental amicus brief.
Chris Walker served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Ninth Circuit withdraws panel decision
August 07, 2018
Click here to view the order withdrawing the prior opinion.
Divided Ninth Circuit panel reverses unanimous Tax Court decision that IRS violated Administrative Procedure Act regarding cost-sharing arrangements
July 24, 2018
Click here to view the opinion.
Steven Lehotsky, chief counsel of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) on the “unsettling procedural history” of Judge Reinhardt casting the deciding vote in this case.
U.S. Chamber urges Ninth Circuit to uphold tax court’s rejection of “tax exceptionalism”
September 20, 2016
The U.S. Chamber asked the Ninth Circuit to affirm a U.S. Tax Court decision striking down a Treasury regulation on arbitrary and capricious grounds. The amicus brief argued that the Tax Court properly rejected the IRS’s theory of “tax exceptionalism,” which the agency routinely advances in an attempt to evade the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) and related administrative law principles. Further, the Chamber argued that, in applying the traditional rules of administrative law, the Tax Court correctly concluded that the regulation failed under the APA for a litany of reasons, including that the IRS failed to collect, much less examine, the relevant data necessary to engage in reasoned decision making. Moreover, the Chamber’s brief explained that the IRS must, like all other federal agencies, comply with the APA to facilitate the clear, predictable rules, and fair and non-arbitrary administrative processes that businesses depend on when planning their operations and investing for their businesses.
Christopher J. Walker served as counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Case Documents
- Decision -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (United States Tax Court).pdf
- Notice of Appeal -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Brief for the Appellant -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Excerpts of Record, Volume I -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Tax Professors Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Alstott Tax Professors Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Brief for the Appellee -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Supplemental Excerpts of Record, Volume 1 -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Supplemental Excerpts of Record, Volume 2 -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Xilinx, Inc. Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- TechNet Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Silicon Valley Tax Directors Group, et al. Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Economists' Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Cisco Systems, Inc. Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Amazon.com, Inc. Amicus Brief -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Reply Brief for Appellant -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Opinion -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Order Withdrawing Opinion -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief (supplemental) -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Opinion Altera Corporationv Commissionerof Internal Revenue Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief (Rehearing En Banc) -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf
- Rehearing Denial Order and Dissent -- Altera Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Ninth Circuit).pdf