Teleforum

On December 1st, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case CIC Services, LLC v. Internal Revenue Service. The case involves whether courts have jurisdiction over challenges to the validity of Internal Revenue Service rules or regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act before the taxpayer pays a tax and seeks a refund. The specific issue presented was whether the prohibition in the Anti-Injunction Act (26 U.S.C., sec. 7421, “AIA”) on lawsuits “for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax” bars challenges to regulatory mandates issued by Treasury/IRS in the form of information reporting requirements that could lead to the assessment of tax penalties. In CIC Services, the Government asserted that the AIA barred pre-enforcement litigation challenging reporting requirements that could have significant civil and criminal penalties attached for non-compliance, where the civil penalties are denominated by the Internal Revenue Code as a “tax&rd