Justia U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) appealed a Tax Court decision that granted summary judgment in favor of Salman Ranch, Ltd. The Partnership owned a ranch in New Mexico. The Partners individually entered into short sales involving United States Treasury Notes. With the cash proceeds from the sales, the partners satisfied some debt obligations and bought replacement bonds. In 1999, the Partnership increased its basis in the ranch to reflect proceeds from the short sales. However, they did not account for the offset obligation used to close the short sales. The IRS eventually determined these transactions artificially inflated the Partnership's basis in the ranch. The IRS issued Notices of Final Partnership Administrative Adjustments (FPAAs) to adjust the Partnership's 1999, 2001 and 2002 tax returns to correct for the alleged overstatement of basis. The FPAAs were issued more than three but fewer than six years after the returns were first filed. The Partnership challenged the FPAAs, arguing that they were issued outside the statute of limitations. The Court of Federal Claims found in favor of the IRS. The Federal Circuit Court reversed. Upon careful consideration of the arguments and the applicable legal authority, the Tenth Circuit reversed the district court's decision. The Court concluded that the statute of limitations had not run on the 2001 or 2002 FPAAs. The Court remanded the case to the tax court for further proceedings.

Defendant Manikhone Saignaphone pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government. The district court sentenced her to 26 monthsâ imprisonment. Defendant appealed the sentence, arguing that her sentence was unreasonable in light of the lesser sentences given to her co-conspirators. The Tenth Circuit reviewed the record and found that Defendant failed to overcome the presumption that her sentence was unreasonable. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the lower courtâs decision and Defendantâs sentence.