Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. and Consolidated Subsidiaries
CourtUnited States Tax Court
Date FiledJuly 15, 2026
Docket11432-25
JudgeKerrigan
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
United States Tax Court
REVIEWED
167 T.C. No. 5
SIEMENS MEDICAL SOLUTIONS USA, INC. AND
CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES,
Petitioner
v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE,
Respondent
—————
Docket No. 11432-25. Filed July 15, 2026.
—————
I.R.C. § 245A, which was enacted by the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act (TCJA), Pub. L. No. 115-97, § 14101, 131 Stat.
2054, 2189 (2017), provides a deduction (DRD) for certain
dividends received by a U.S. corporation from certain
foreign corporations. The DRD applies to distributions
made after December 31, 2017.
The TCJA included interrelated provisions to move
the U.S. tax system from a worldwide tax system to a
territorial tax system. The provisions did not all have the
same effective dates and created gaps that affect certain
taxpayers. The Department of the Treasury and the IRS
issued Temp. Treas. Reg. § 1.245A-5T, which limits the
DRD under I.R.C. § 245A to address one such gap.
P claimed the full DRD under I.R.C. § 245A for a
dividend received from a foreign source. In its Motion for
Summary Judgment, P argues that it is entitled to a DRD
for the full amount and that the limitation provided in the
temporary regulation does not apply. In R’s Cross-Motion
for Summary Judgment, R argues that the temporary
regulation does apply and that P is entitled to a limited
DRD.
Served 07/15/26
2
Held: P is entitled to the full DRD under I.R.C.
§ 245A.
Held, further, Temp. Treas. Reg. § 1.245A-5T does
not alter this conclusion because it cannot contravene the
clear statutory text.
KERRIGAN, J., wrote the opinion of the Court,
which URDA, C.J., and BUCH, NEGA, PUGH, ASHFORD,
COPELAND, JONES, TORO, GREAVES, MARSHALL,
WEILER, WAY, LANDY, ARBEIT, GUIDER, and FUNG,
JJ., joined.
JENKINS, J., did not participate in the
consideration of this opinion.
—————
Eric J. Konopka, Jean Ann Pawlow, and Alexandra B. Clionsky Kelly,
for petitioner.
Nicholas D. Doukas, William Tyler Halasz, Laura A. Humphreys, and
Victor W. Zhao, for respondent.
OPINION
KERRIGAN, Judge: This case is before the Court on petitioner’s
Motion for Summary Judgment (Motion) and respondent’s Cross-Motion
for Summary Judgment (Cross-Motion). Respondent issued a Notice of
Deficiency for tax year ended September 30, 2019 (2019 Tax Year), and
tax year ended September 30, 2021 (2021 Tax Year), disallowing a full
deduction pursuant to section 245A1 and accompanying regulations for
the 2019 Tax Year. 2 Respondent determined that petitioner is entitled
to a partial section 245A deduction because of the application of the
1 Unless otherwise indicated, statutory references are to the Internal Revenue
Code, Title 26 U.S.C. (Code), in effect at all relevant times, regulation references are
to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 26 (Treas. Reg.), in effect at all relevant times,
and Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
2 The partial disallowance of the section 245A deduction resulted in a series of
adjustments for the 2021 Tax Year.
3
Extraordinary Disposition Rules, which are part of the section 245A
temporary regulations. See T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. 27, 30.
In its Motion petitioner moves for summary judgment because the
deficiencies that respondent determined rest on the application of a
regulation that petitioner contends is invalid as a matter of law.
Respondent seeks summary adjudication that the Extraordinary
Disposition Rules are valid.
For the reasons discussed below, we hold that the Extraordinary
Disposition Rules cannot contravene the plain meaning of section 245A.
Accordingly, we will grant petitioner’s Motion and deny respondent’s
Cross-Motion.
Background
The facts set out are derived from the parties’ pleadings and
Motion papers. See Rule 121(c)(1). They are stated solely for the
purpose of deciding the pending Motion and are not findings of fact for
this case. See Sundstrand Corp. v. Commissioner, 98 T.C. 518, 520
(1992), aff’d, 17 F.3d 965 (7th Cir. 1994).
Petitioner, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Siemens Healthineers AG (SHAG), a German
company that provides healthcare products globally. Its principal place
of business was Pennsylvania when its Petition was timely filed. At all
relevant times, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Inc. (SHD US), a
California corporation and member of petitioner’s U.S. consolidated
group, owned 67.78% of Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics Holding
I.B.V. (SMS BVI), a Dutch company treated as a corporation for U.S.
federal income tax purposes.
During the tax year ended September 30, 2018 (2018 Tax Year),
certain foreign subsidiaries of SMS BVI were restructured. On April 1,
2018, SMS BVI sold 100% of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics GmbH, a
Swiss company, for €85,715,399 to Siemens Healthineers Holding III
BV, a Dutch company within the SHAG Group (SHAG and its
subsidiaries).
On August 13, 2018, SMS BVI sold 100% of Siemens Healthcare
Diagnostics Holding GmbH, a German company, to Siemens Healthcare
GmbH, a German company within the SHAG Group, for €1,339,593,000.
As a result of these two sales, SMS BVI increased its earnings and
profits (E&P) by approximately €819,000,000.
4
On March 19, 2019, SMS BVI made a pro rata distribution of
€1,750,000,000 to its shareholders (March 2019 Distribution). Since
SHD US owned 67.78% of SMS BVI, it received 67.78% of the March
2019 Distribution which was €1,186,073,740. Of that amount
$670,616,109 was a dividend made out of SMS BVI’s E&P (March 2019
Dividend). The March 2019 Dividend was entirely foreign source.
Petitioner timely filed consolidated federal income tax returns for
its 2019 Tax Year and its 2021 Tax Year. On its Form 1120,
U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, for its 2019 Tax Year, petitioner
claimed a deduction for the full amount of the March 2019 Dividend.
When preparing its tax return for the 2019 Tax Year, petitioner
considered the implications of the Extraordinary Disposition Rules, and
it concluded that its two sales that occurred in 2018 “likely” fit the
definition of “extraordinary dispositions” under those rules. Of the
March 2019 Dividend, $40,630,184 was not attributable to the two sales
occurring in 2018. If the Extraordinary Disposition Rules apply, a
deduction for $314,992,962 of the March 2019 Dividend would be
disallowed.
Petitioner concluded that the Extraordinary Disposition Rules
were invalid and that it was entitled to the full section 245A deduction.
It filed Form 8275–R, Regulation Disclosure Statement, with its tax
return for its 2019 Tax Year. On its Form 8275–R, petitioner disclosed
the relevant facts and its legal analysis supporting its position that the
Extraordinary Disposition Rules are invalid.
In the Notice of Deficiency respondent determined deficiencies of
$5,581,518 and $1,452,006 for the 2019 Tax Year and the 2021 Tax Year,
respectively. Respondent disallowed $314,992,962 of the section 245A
deduction.
Discussion
I. Summary Judgment
The purpose of summary judgment is to expedite litigation and
avoid costly, time-consuming, and unnecessary trials. Fla. Peach Corp.
v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 678, 681 (1988). Under Rule 121(a), either
party may move for summary judgment regarding all or any part of the
legal issues in controversy. We may grant summary judgment only if
there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is
entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 121(a)(2); Sundstrand
Corp., 98 T.C. at 520. The moving party bears the burden of
5
demonstrating that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact.
FPL Grp., Inc. & Subs. v. Commissioner, 116 T.C. 73, 74–75 (2001). In
deciding whether to grant summary judgment, we construe factual
materials and inferences drawn from them in the light most favorable
to the adverse party. Sundstrand Corp., 98 T.C. at 520.
There is no material dispute of fact, and we may resolve the
Motions as a matter of law.
II. Background Law
A. Overview
The United States taxes its citizens and domestic corporations on
worldwide income. See, e.g., Cook v. Tait, 265 U.S. 47, 56 (1924); Huff
v. Commissioner, 135 T.C. 222, 230 (2010). In 1962 Congress enacted
subpart F in response to erosion of the U.S. tax base. See Dougherty v.
Commissioner, 60 T.C. 917, 928 (1973) (“In subpart F, Congress has
singled out a particular class of taxpayers, U.S. shareholders, whose
degree of control over their foreign corporation allows them to treat the
corporation’s undistributed earnings as they see fit.” (footnote omitted)).
The goal of subpart F is to tax currently specified earnings of controlled
foreign corporations (CFCs) that are in the aggregate controlled by U.S.
shareholders. Textron Inc. & Subs. v. Commissioner, 117 T.C. 67, 73–
74 (2001). Subpart F applies only to a small portion of the CFC’s income,
mostly passive income. See Moore v. United States, 144 S. Ct. 1680, 1685
(2024).
Since its enactment, the effectiveness of subpart F has been
questioned. Generally, the U.S. tax on a CFC’s income, not subject to
subpart F, is deferred until the income is repatriated in the form of a
dividend or other distribution to the CFC’s U.S. shareholders. §§ 881,
882; see also Dave Fischbein Mfg. Co. v. Commissioner, 59 T.C. 338, 353
(1972); S. Rep. No. 87-1881, at 78 (1962), reprinted in 1962-3 C.B. 703,
784. A 2000 Department of the Treasury Policy Study raised concerns
that subpart F and the current antideferral system were not preventing
erosion of the U.S. tax base. See U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, Off. of Tax
Pol’y, The Deferral of Income Earned Through U.S. Controlled Foreign
Corporations (2000), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Report-
SubpartF-2000.pdf.
In 2017 Congress enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA),
Pub. L. No. 115-97, 131 Stat. 2054 (2017). The TCJA “altered the United
States’ approach to international corporate taxation” with the goal of
6
encouraging “Americans who controlled foreign corporations to invest
earnings from their foreign investments back in the United States
instead of abroad.” Moore, 144 S. Ct. at 1685–86.
To accomplish this goal, the TCJA included several interrelated
provisions which moved the United States from a worldwide tax system
towards a partially territorial system. See id. at 1686; see also Varian
Med. Sys., Inc. & Subs. v. Commissioner, 163 T.C. 76, 85 (2024). Three
of these provisions are key to understanding the issues raised in the
parties’ Motions. These provisions provide an exemption for certain
foreign income, tax certain income repatriated, and provide an inclusion
for certain global income.
Section 245A provides, in part, an exemption for certain foreign
income in the form of a 100% dividends-received deduction:
Sec. 245A. Deduction for foreign source-portion of
dividends received by domestic corporations from specified
10-percent owned foreign corporations
(a) In general.—In the case of any dividend received
from a specified 10-percent owned foreign corporation by a
domestic corporation which is a United States shareholder
with respect to such foreign corporation, there shall be
allowed as a deduction an amount equal to the foreign-
source portion of such dividend.
Section 245A is effective for distributions made after December 31, 2017.
TCJA § 14101(f), 131 Stat. at 2192.
Congress enacted section 245A to help U.S. companies compete
on a more level playing field and to eliminate the “lock-out” effect
whereby U.S. businesses do not bring foreign earnings back to the
United States in order to avoid taxation on those earnings. Staff of
S. Comm. on the Budget, 115th Cong., Reconciliation Recommendations
Pursuant to H. Con. Res. 71, at 358 (Comm. Print 2017).
To transition towards a partial participation exemption system of
taxation, TCJA § 14103, 131 Stat. at 2195–208, included a provision
referred to as the Mandatory Repatriation Tax (MRT). § 965; see also
Moore, 144 S. Ct. at 1686; Varian, 163 T.C. at 85. Similar in structure
to subpart F, the MRT added accumulated foreign earnings of foreign
corporations that had not been repatriated to U.S. shareholders (and
thus not subject to U.S. tax) to the U.S. shareholders’ subpart F income
for the transition year. § 965(a), (d); see also Moore, 144 S. Ct. at 1686;
7
Varian, 163 T.C. at 85. The amount added to subpart F income is taxed
at a lower than normal rate. § 965(c); see also Moore, 144 S. Ct. at 1686;
Varian, 163 T.C. at 85. The MRT is a “one-time, backward-looking tax”
that was effective for the last taxable year of foreign corporations
beginning before January 1, 2018. Moore, 144 S. Ct. at 1686; see also
§ 965(a).
The House Ways and Means Committee was aware that, in the
past, U.S. companies with foreign earnings had accumulated significant
undistributed earnings because those earnings were not taxed until they
were repatriated. H.R. Rep. No. 115-409, at 375 (2017). Additionally,
the House Ways and Means Committee was aware that, going forward,
U.S. companies with foreign earnings would benefit from the new 100%
dividends-received deduction. To avoid a “potential windfall” for
corporations that deferred income, “the Committee believes that it is
appropriate to tax such earnings as if they had been repatriated under
present law, but at a reduced rate.” Id. The Senate Finance Committee
included similar language in its report to the Senate Committee on the
Budget. See also Staff of S. Comm. on the Budget, 115th Cong. 363. 3
The MRT was the vehicle for accomplishing this objective.
The TCJA created another new provision to tax foreign earnings
prospectively. Specifically, section 951A provides for current year
inclusion of global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) by U.S.
shareholders and is commonly referred to as the GILTI regime. TCJA
§ 14201, 131 Stat at 2208. The Senate Finance Committee recognized
that without any base protection measures such as GILTI, the
dividends-received deduction would create an incentive for a U.S.
corporation to allocate income subject to the U.S. corporate tax rate to a
low- or zero-tax jurisdiction where the income might be distributed back
to the United States and be eligible for the dividends-received deduction.
Staff of S. Comm. on the Budget, 115th Cong. 370. Section 951A is
effective for taxable years of foreign corporations beginning after
December 31, 2017, and for taxable years of U.S. shareholders in which
or with which such taxable years of foreign corporations end. TCJA
§ 14201(d), 131 Stat. at 2213. And, despite its name, it generally taxes
U.S. shareholders of a CFC on all income of the CFC that exceeds a
3 The Senate Finance Committee’s recommendations to the Senate Committee
on the Budget appear without revision in this report. Staff of S. Comm. on the Budget,
115th Cong. 1.
8
certain deemed threshold return on the CFC’s tangible assets. See
§ 951A(a), (b), (d).
To summarize in general terms, section 965 (MRT) taxes foreign
earnings accumulated before the TCJA was enacted while section 951A
(GILTI) taxes post-TCJA foreign earnings. Section 245A allows a
deduction for certain post-TCJA dividends from foreign corporations,
effectively exempting such dividends from U.S. tax.
B. Effective Dates
These three interrelated provisions, section 245A, section 951A,
and section 965, have different effective dates. The Extraordinary
Disposition Rules were crafted to address the discrepancies of the
varying effective dates.
1. Section 245A
The House and Senate versions of the TCJA had different
effective dates for section 245A. The Senate version applied section
245A to taxable years “beginning after December 31, 2017, and to
taxable years of United States shareholders in which or with which such
taxable years of foreign corporations end.” S. 1, 115th Cong. § 14101(f)
(2017). The House version, which became the effective date included in
the enacted TCJA, applied section 245A “to distributions made after . . .
December 31, 2017.” H.R. 1, 115th Cong. § 4001(f) (2017).
2. Section 951A
The House and Senate versions of the TCJA had different
provisions for the current year inclusion of certain foreign income. H.R.
Rep. No. 115-466, at 635–44 (2017) (Conf. Rep.). The conference
agreement for the TCJA followed the Senate amendment, providing for
an inclusion for GILTI by U.S. shareholders, with modifications. Id.
at 644–45. The Senate provision applied section 951A to taxable years
“beginning after December 31, 2017, and to taxable years of United
States shareholders in which or with which such taxable years of foreign
corporations end.” S. 1, 115th Cong. § 14201(d); see also TCJA
§ 14201(d), 131 Stat. at 2213.
3. Section 965
The income subject to MRT, which serves as the transition tax
from the old system to the new system, was generally measured as of
9
December 31, 2017. See § 965(a). The House and Senate versions of the
TCJA had similar provisions and the same effective date terms. H.R. 1,
115th Cong. § 4004(a); S. 1, 115th Cong. § 14103(a).
4. Mismatch of Effective Dates
Since sections 245A, 951A, and 965 all have different effective
dates, there can be gaps between their applicability for certain
taxpayers. For those taxpayers that have taxable years different from
the calendar year, for example, there could be a gap between the
application of section 245A and section 951A because a section 245A
deduction is potentially available for any distribution made by a foreign
corporation after December 31, 2017, whereas section 951A would not
apply until the foreign corporation’s next taxable year begins.
Additionally, there may be a gap between the application of the MRT
(measured no later than December 31, 2017) and the start of the GILTI
regime, resulting in certain dividends’ being eligible for a deduction
under section 245A despite the underlying earnings’ not being taxed by
the MRT or included in income under section 951A. 4
III. Extraordinary Disposition Rules
On June 18, 2019, the Department of the Treasury and the
Internal Revenue Service (collectively, Treasury) issued final temporary
regulations, providing for a limitation on the section 245A deduction,
effective on June 18, 2019. T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 27. The
preamble explains that the regulations address cases where the
deduction eliminates income that was not subject to tax under section
965 and is the type of income that is subject to tax under subpart F and
section 951A. T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 28. As the preamble puts it,
“the temporary regulations address transactions that have the effect of
avoiding tax under section 965, 951A, or 951[5] by inappropriately
converting income that should have been subject to U.S. tax into
nontaxed income.” Id.
The preamble justifies the rules in the temporary regulations by
appealing to the integrated operation of the post-TCJA international tax
4 A version of the subpart F regime remains in effect but applies only to limited
categories of income.
5 Section 951 requires U.S. shareholders of a CFC to include currently their
pro rata share of the CFC’s current-year subpart F income even without a distribution,
eliminating the deferral of U.S. tax on those earnings.
10
regime, focusing on sections 245A, 951, 951A, and 965. The explanation
of the provisions states:
Although the section 245A deduction is generally available
for untaxed foreign-source earnings, read collectively this
integrated set of statutory rules can be reasonably
understood to require that the deduction not apply to
earnings and profits attributable to income of a type that
is properly subject to the subpart F or GILTI regimes,
which address base erosion-type income.
T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 29. The preamble further explains that
Treasury “do[es] not believe Congress intended section 245A to defeat
the purposes of subpart F and GILTI” and acted with authority pursuant
to section 245A(g) to issue regulations. T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 30.
Treasury explains in the preamble that section 245A is “designed to
operate residually, such that the section 245A deduction generally
applies to any earnings of a CFC to the extent that they are not first
subject to the subpart F regime, the GILTI regime, or the exclusions
provided in section 245A(c)(3) (and were not subject to section 965).” 6
T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 29 (emphasis added). In other words, the
section 245A deduction should apply only to the type of earnings that
are not subject to subpart F, the GILTI, and the MRT.
The preamble specifically addresses the effective date mismatch
we discuss above. It explains that in the TCJA there may be a gap
between when section 951A first applies and the last date on which E&P
are measured for the purposes of the MRT. T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B.
at 30. Treasury further explains that this gap, referred to in the
temporary regulations as the “disqualified period,” is from January 1,
2018, to the start of the next tax year for fiscal year taxpayers. Id.
Treasury’s concern is that, during this disqualified period, the foreign
income of a CFC may not be subject to any tax and yet still be eligible
for the section 245A deduction. T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 30–31. As
a result, the temporary regulations provide the Extraordinary
6 Earnings that are first subject to the subpart F, MRT, or GILTI regimes
attain the status of previously taxed earnings and profits (PTEP) under section 959.
Such amounts are excluded from a shareholder’s income when distributed, § 959(a),
and generally are not treated as dividends, § 959(d). Thus, they do not qualify for the
section 245A dividends-received deduction, nor is the deduction needed, because the
associated income is already exempted from a second round of U.S. tax.
11
Disposition Rules to limit the section 245A deduction for such income.
T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 31.
The preamble explains an extraordinary disposition as a
disposition that meets the following requirements:
[T]he disposition must (i) be of specified property (defined
in § 1.245A-5T(c)(3)(iv) as any property other than property
that produces gross income described in section
951A(c)(2)(A)(i)(I) through (V)), (ii) occur during the
[specified 10% owned foreign corporation]’s disqualified
period (as defined in § 1.245A-5T(c)(3)(iii)) and when the
[specified 10% owned foreign corporation] was a CFC,
(iii) be outside of the ordinary course of the [specified 10%
owned foreign corporation]’s activities, and (iv) be to a
related party. See § 1.245A-5T(c)(3)(ii).
Id. The temporary regulation defines a disqualified period as beginning
on January 1, 2018, and ending as of the close of the taxable year of the
specified 10% owned foreign corporation, if any, that begins before
January 1, 2018, and ends after December 31, 2017. Temp. Treas. Reg.
§ 1.245A-5T(c)(3)(iii).
If the requirements of an extraordinary disposition are met,
certain consequences occur. The net gain is classified as E&P and
allocated to the extraordinary disposition accounts of the shareholders
of the specified 10% owned foreign corporation in accordance with their
owner share. Id. subdiv. (i)(C). When that corporation pays a dividend
to its shareholders, the dividend is first considered paid out of non-
extraordinary disposition E&P; the dividend is next considered paid out
of the extraordinary disposition account to the extent of the section 245A
shareholder’s extraordinary disposition account balance. Temp. Treas.
Reg. § 1.245A-5T(c)(2)(i). This latter amount is the extraordinary
disposition amount. Id. subpara. (1). Under the temporary regulations,
the section 245A deduction is disallowed for 50% of the extraordinary
disposition amount. Temp. Treas. Reg. § 1.245A-5T(b)(2)(i).
The temporary regulations were promulgated with retroactive
effect pursuant to section 7805(b)(2) which allows Treasury to apply
regulations retroactively if the regulations are promulgated within 18
months of enactment of the underlying statute. See T.D. 9865, 2019-27
I.R.B. at 36.
12
IV. Parties’ Arguments
The parties do not dispute that petitioner was eligible for the
dividends-received deduction. Rather, the parties dispute whether the
Extraordinary Disposition Rules apply and limit petitioner’s claimed
section 245A deduction. Additionally, the parties do not dispute
whether SMS BVI’s two sales during 2018 meet the requirements of an
extraordinary disposition. Since SMS BVI’s 2018 Tax Year ended on
September 30, 2018, it had a gap from January 1, 2018, to September
30, 2018, which met the temporary regulation’s definition of a
disqualified period.
A. Petitioner’s Arguments
Petitioner contends that applying section 245A in this case
provides a clear result. Since petitioner’s March 2019 Dividend was
distributed after December 31, 2017, from a qualifying corporation and
was entirely foreign source, it contends that under the plain terms of
section 245A it was entitled to the entire deduction.
Additionally, petitioner argues that there is a conflict between the
statute and the regulation and that Congress never passed a statute
that limits the section 245A deduction. Petitioner posits when there is
a head-to-head conflict between a statute and a regulation, the statute
wins. Besides the conflict between the statute and the regulation,
petitioner argues that there are other problems with the regulation. In
particular petitioner contends that the regulation was retroactive and
did not comply with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
B. Respondent’s Arguments
Respondent argues that Treasury issued the “necessary or
appropriate” regulations to carry out section 245A. Respondent relies
upon section 245A(g) in support of his position. Section 245A(g)
provides: “The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations or other
guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions
of this section, including regulations for the treatment of United States
shareholders owning stock of a specified 10 percent owned foreign
corporation through a partnership.” Additionally, respondent contends
that the APA does not apply and even if it did apply, Treasury complied
with the APA.
13
V. Analysis
The parties’ arguments raise the following issues that we need to
address: the plain meaning of the statute and whether the
Extraordinary Disposition Rules apply. 7
A. Statutory Analysis
We start with the familiar maxim “that courts must presume that
a legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute
what it says there.” Varian, 163 T.C. at 87 (quoting Conn. Nat’l Bank v.
Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 253–54 (1992)). And when “Congress includes
particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another
section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acts
intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion.” Id.
at 88 (quoting Cheneau v. Garland, 997 F.3d 916, 920 (9th Cir. 2021)).
Petitioner claimed a deduction for the March 2019 Dividend. The
effective date for section 245A is “distributions made after . . . December
31, 2017.” TCJA § 14101(f), 131 Stat. at 2192. The March 2019
Distribution was made to the shareholders of SMS BVI in March 2019,
well after December 31, 2017.
Petitioner’s claimed deduction also met the requirement that the
provision applies only to dividends paid by a specified 10% owned foreign
corporation. SHD US, a member of petitioner’s consolidated group,
owned 67.78% of SMS BVI. SMS BVI was a CFC of which SHD US was
a U.S. shareholder, making SMS BVI a 10% owned foreign corporation.
See §§ 245A(b), 951(b). Section 245A applies only to the “foreign-source
portion” of a qualifying dividend. § 245A(a). All of the March 2019
Dividend was from foreign earnings.
Because all the elements of section 245A were met, petitioner
contends that it was entitled to the full deduction under the plain terms
of section 245A. See Varian, 163 T.C. at 87–88. We agree with
petitioner.
7 If we conclude that the Extraordinary Disposition Rules do not apply, we do
not need to address whether the Extraordinary Disposition Rules meet the
requirements of the APA.
14
B. Application of Extraordinary Disposition Rules
Treasury’s Extraordinary Disposition Rules conflict with the
plain meaning of section 245A. The Extraordinary Disposition Rules
addressed mismatched effective dates that Treasury believed caused a
gap where the earnings underlying certain dividends would not be
taxed. As we explained in Varian, the House and the Senate versions of
the TCJA had different effective dates for section 245A. Varian, 163
T.C. at 103.
In Varian there was a mismatch between the ultimately enacted
effective date of section 245A and the TCJA’s amendments to section 78.
Varian, 163 T.C. at 104. As in Varian, Congress “chose the rule it
adopted over a readily available alternative.” Id. at 103. Since the
House and the Senate versions of the TCJA had different effective dates
for section 245A, Congress had to choose what the effective date should
be in the final version. Congress chose to have section 245A apply to
distributions made after December 31, 2017.
Additionally, Congress chose the effective date for the start of the
GILTI regime. The House version of the TCJA did not include the GILTI
regime, and Congress chose to include the GILTI provision with
modifications in the final version of the TCJA. Congress chose for the
GILTI regime to apply to taxable years of CFCs beginning after
December 31, 2017, and to taxable years of U.S. shareholders in which
or with which such taxable years of foreign corporations end. TCJA
§ 14201(d), 131 Stat. at 2213.
Congress also chose the measurement date for determining
income subject to the MRT. The income included is the greater of two
measurements of certain foreign income of a CFC as of November 2,
2017, or as of December 31, 2017. § 965(a).
There is no ambiguity regarding the effective dates of the start of
the GILTI regime and the end of the MRT. As in Varian, if the Senate
version of section 245A had been adopted, there would be no mismatch
of effective dates. See Varian, 163 T.C. at 103.
The House and Senate committee reports reflect on the
interaction of the three provisions. See H.R. Rep. No. 115-409, at 375;
Staff of S. Comm. on the Budget, 115th Cong. 363. Congress could have
chosen for section 245A and section 951A to have the same effective
dates. Congress chose not to do so, and as in Varian, we will respect the
choice that Congress made. See Varian, 163 T.C. at 103.
15
Respondent contends that this case can be distinguished from
Varian because here the Extraordinary Disposition Rules target a
narrow set of related party transactions and do not change an effective
date as the regulation did in Varian. Treasury Regulation § 1.78-1 gives
an earlier effective date to one of the TCJA’s amendments to section 78.
Varian, 163 T.C. at 104. We agree that the Extraordinary Disposition
Rules do not specifically change an effective date, but Treasury
specifically drafted the Extraordinary Disposition Rules to address a
gap created solely by different effective dates. Thus, while the
mechanism for addressing the perceived problem is different, the effect
is materially the same.
To recap, instead of changing an effective date, the Extraordinary
Disposition Rules create a disqualified period that addresses the gap.
Treasury promulgated the Extraordinary Disposition Rules to address
the situation in which a “literal application” of section 245A could result
in the section 245A deduction applying to income that is usually subject
to subpart F or the GILTI regime. T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 29.
Treasury explained that the escape from taxation occurs “when a CFC’s
fiscal year results in a mismatch between the effective date for GILTI
and the final measurement date under section 965.” Id. In Varian and
here, the regulations accomplish the same goal. In Varian the rule
adopted by the regulation gave an earlier effective date to a TCJA
amendment to section 78, see Varian, 163 T.C. at 104, and here, the
temporary regulation imposes a limitation on section 245A which
mimics the effects of the MRT and the GILTI regime. Or, thinking of it
another way, the temporary regulation delays the effective date of
section 245A for 50% of the dividends for certain taxpayers. In either
case the results of the regulation here and in Varian are the same and
that is that they are in conflict with a plain reading of the statute. See
Varian, 163 T.C. at 104–05.
Additionally, respondent contends that the Extraordinary
Disposition Rules affect only certain transactions. Transactions of CFCs
that are calendar year taxpayers, transactions in the ordinary course of
business, and any transaction with an unrelated party are not limited.
See Temp. Treas. Reg. § 1.245A-5T(c)(3)(ii). Essentially, respondent
argues the rules here are narrowly tailored to target specific problematic
transactions.
That may be so, but it does respondent no good. Section 245A
allows a 100% deduction for qualifying distributions after December 31,
2017. Treasury’s adopted regulation disallows 50% of the deduction for
16
distributions that Treasury admits satisfy the plain terms of the statute,
using criteria that appear nowhere in the statute. This creates a
contradiction, and the statute must prevail.
In sum, even though the Extraordinary Disposition Rules are
crafted to affect only certain transactions that, in Treasury’s view, have
“the effect of avoiding tax under section 965, 951A, or 951 by
inappropriately converting income that should have been subject to U.S.
tax into nontaxed income,” these rules are needed only because of the
effective date mismatches. See T.D. 9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 28. Limiting
the section 245A deduction to certain transactions is inconsistent with
a plain reading of the statute. Thus, the Extraordinary Disposition
Rules cannot govern the outcome here.
C. Whether the Extraordinary Disposition Rules Are
Necessary and Appropriate
Respondent argues that Congress delegated broad authority to
Treasury to promulgate “necessary or appropriate” rules to define the
limits of the dividends-received deduction. § 245A(g). Respondent also
relies upon section 7805(a), which provides that Treasury “shall
prescribe all needful rules and regulations for the enforcement” of the
Code.
For the reasons we have already described, the Extraordinary
Disposition Rules are inconsistent with section 245A and are outside the
boundaries of regulatory authority that Congress provided Treasury in
section 245A(g). The role of the reviewing court under the APA is “to
independently interpret the statute and effectuate the will of Congress
subject to constitutional limits.” Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 144
S. Ct. 2244, 2263 (2024). The reviewing court performs this role by
“recognizing constitutional delegations, ‘fix[ing] the boundaries of [the]
delegated authority,’ . . . and ensuring the agency has engaged in
‘“reasoned decisionmaking”’ within those boundaries.” Id. (first quoting
Henry P. Monaghan, Marbury and the Administrative State, 83 Colum.
L. Rev. 1, 27 (1983); and then quoting Michigan v. EPA, 576 U.S. 743,
750 (2015)).
Because the sections are interrelated and part of provisions to
move the United States towards a territorial tax system, respondent
relies upon the Supreme Court decision in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v.
United States, 143 S. Ct. 940 (2023), to argue that the text of section
245A is necessary and appropriate. The Supreme Court stated that “the
17
Court must read the words Congress enacted ‘in their context and with
a view to their place in the overall statutory scheme.’” Turkiye Halk
Bankasi A.S., 143 S. Ct. at 948 (quoting Davis v. Mich. Dep’t of Treasury,
489 U.S. 803, 809 (1989)).
Post Loper Bright, the Supreme Court stated that “appropriate”
is a “quintessentially ‘context dependent’ term [that] often draws its
meaning from surrounding provisions.” Harrington v. Purdue Pharma
L.P., 144 S. Ct. 2071, 2083 (2024) (quoting Sossamon v. Texas, 563 U.S.
277, 286 (2011)). But context does not help respondent. Here, Treasury
is not trying to construe the language of section 245A. Instead, Treasury
is trying to correct the mismatch in effective dates by changing the plain
meaning of the statute.
The statute provides a 100% dividends-received deduction, and
the Extraordinary Disposition Rules limit the deduction by 50% for
dividends attributable to extraordinary dispositions. Temp. Treas. Reg.
§ 1.245A-5T. As already discussed, the statute contains no hint of such
a rule. That is why, for justification, Treasury relies not on the statutory
text, but instead on assertions regarding Congress’s intent, gleaned
from the overall structure of the TCJA. Treasury does not explain,
however, why the effective dates Congress chose should be disregarded
as evidence of its intent. In any event, when there is a direct conflict
between a statute and a regulation, the statute prevails. See In re
Complaint of Nautilus Motor Tanker Co., 85 F.3d 105, 111 (3d Cir. 1996)
(“[I]t is axiomatic that federal regulations can not ‘trump’ or repeal Acts
of Congress.”). And a regulation that purports to contradict the statute
can be neither necessary nor appropriate.
Treasury, not Congress, was concerned that, for some taxpayers,
foreign income might be earned after the measurement date for the MRT
and before the start of the GILTI regime, and that this income might be
eligible for the section 245A deduction. And Treasury, not Congress,
decided unilaterally to approximate the tax treatment of the MRT and
the GILTI by disallowing 50% of the section 245A deduction. See T.D.
9865, 2019-27 I.R.B. at 30–31. But the effective dates for the MRT and
the start of the GILTI regime are clear. Therefore, Treasury does not
have the authority to impose the