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Income Tax Code
Verification
Information on the 'income' tax codes for your general knowledge.
UNITED
STATES v. FIOR D'ITALIA, INC., No. 01-463. (the case)
Employers must pay Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes,
calculated as a percentage of the wages, including tips, that
their employees receive. 26 U. S. C. §§3101, 3111, 3121(q).
An employee reports the tip amount to the employer, who sends copies of
the reports to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 26 CFR
§31.6011(a)-1(a). In 1991 and 1992, respondent Fior D'Italia
restaurant paid FICA taxes based on the tip amount its employees
reported, but the reports also showed that the tips listed on
customers' credit card slips far exceeded the reported amount. The IRS
made a compliance check and assessed additional FICA taxes using an
"aggregate estimation" method, under which it examined the credit card
slips; found the average percentage tip paid by those customers;
assumed that cash-paying customers paid at same rate; calculated total
tips by multiplying the tip rates by Fior D'Italia's total receipts;
subtracted the tips already reported; applied the FICA tax rate to the
remainder; and assessed additional taxes owed. After paying a portion
of the taxes, Fior D'Italia filed this refund suit, claiming that the
tax statutes did not authorize the IRS to use the aggregate
estimation method, but required it to first determine the tips that
each individual employee received and then use that information to
calculate the employer's total FICA tax liability. Fior D'Italia agreed
that it would not dispute the accuracy of the particular calculation in
this case. The District Court ruled for Fior D'Italia, and the Ninth
Circuit affirmed.
Held: The tax law authorizes the IRS to use the
aggregate estimation method. Pp. 3-14.
(a) An assessment is entitled to a legal presumption of correctness. By
granting the IRS assessment authority, 26
U. S. C. §6201(a) must simultaneously grant it power to
decide how to make that assessment within certain limits, which are not
exceeded when the IRS estimates tax liability using a reasonable
method. Pp. 3-5.
The
Constitution of the United States
Article I. - The Legislative Branch
Section 1 - The Legislature
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate
and House of Representatives.
The U.S. Supreme Court just violated the U.S. Constitution on the
Separation of Powers by making this ruling.
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