But In Recovery

Judge Mark V Holmes evinces a never-give-up attitude when confronted by the electronic age and its marvels. Here, he exhibits his mastery of the CTRL-F function in Oakbrook Land Holdings, LLC, William Duane Horton, Tax Matters Partner, Docket No.5444-13, filed 5/15/19.

I can’t imagine you don’t recall Billy D and the 2500-page docudump anent Reg. 1.170A-14(g)(6)(ii). But if you were beguiled by Game of Thrones or its ilk, see my blogpost “Be Careful What You Ask For,” 3/15/19, and the earlier blogposts therein cited.

IRS ponied up the public comments. Billy D and intrepid counsel responded with the fifteen (count ‘em, fifteen) pages of brief Judge Holmes allowed. But they added, at no extra charge, 200-plus pages of appendix.

IRS yells “foul!” Judge Holmes doesn’t see it that way.

“Unlike some efforts to evade page limits, petitioner’s appendix was not argument, but only an abridgment of the 2,500 or so pages respondent produced in response to our call for the administrative record of the disputed regulation — the disputed regulation was a small part of a larger project. Petitioner’s abridged version in its appendix was a mildly useful check on this Division’s own skills using CTRL+F on the helpfully searchable full record respondent already produced.” Order, at p. 1.

Judge Holmes said “keep it short and stick to the law.”

Billy D and intrepid lawyer didn’t argue anything in the appendix, just showed what part of the administrative record dealt with the issue.

So I reiterate my request from my above-referred-to blogpost: “And maybe Treasury can put this megillah online, now they’ve gone to the trouble of producing it.”