Opinion

Gulf Oil Corp. v. Commissioner

  • 89 T.C. 1010
  • 89 T.C. No. 70
  • 1987 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 162
Court
United States Tax Court
Filed
Nov 24, 1987
Status
Published
Author
Chabot
On the bench
Whitaker,Nims,Korner,Shields,Hamblen,Clapp,Swift,Jacobs,Gerber,Wright,Parr,Williams,Wells,Goffe,Chabot,Cohen,Chabot,Sterrett,Goffe,Cohen,Nims,Whitaker,Korner,Hamblen,Swift,Jacobs,Gerber,Wright,Parr,Williams
Cited by
25 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.4%

The opinion

CHABOT, </., concurring: Both the majority and Judge Goffe agree with the result that petitioner is not entitled to any deduction for insurance premiums for the years before us in the instant case.

If, as appears to be the case, the majority are unwilling to agree with Judge Goffe’s extension of prior case law as the justification for this result, then it would be the more prudent course of action to (1) note the “law of large numbers” analysis, (2) observe that that analysis would lead to the same result in the instant case but perhaps different results in other cases, and (3) indicate that the parties in other cases may wish to argue in their cases the strengths and weakness of that analysis and present the appropriate expert testimony. This approach would have preserved our opportunity to carefully evaluate a well-grounded exposition of both sides regarding the “law of large numbers” analysis. See Concord Consumers Housing Cooperative v. Commissioner, 89 T.C. 105 , 106 n. 3 (1987), and the concurring opinion by Judge Kórner, 89 T.C. at 125 .

Instead, the majority have committed us to certain decisions in cases not before us (p. 1027), decisions that might not be justified by the records made in those cases. As' Judge Parker has indicated, we do a disservice to other taxpayers when we so boldly announce the result of future cases under these circumstances.

Sterrett, Goffe, and Cohen, JJ., agree with this concurring opinion.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.