Fpl Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Summary

The Tax Court denied the Commissioner's motion for partial summary judgment, holding that the so-called 'one claim' rule of section 6427(i)(1) does not bar FPL Group from obtaining additional fuel tax credits under section 34 beyond the amounts claimed on its original consolidated returns for 1988 through 1992. The court read sections 34 and 6427 as parallel relief authorities: section 6427(i)'s one-claim limit reaches only claims for payment under specified subsections of section 6427, while credits are claimed under section 34, whose only limitation (section 34(b)) disallows credit solely to prevent duplication of a timely filed and payable payment claim. Legislative history from the Airport and Airway Revenue Act of 1970 confirmed that Congress viewed the payment and credit mechanisms as parallel authorities of equal effect. No separate opinions were filed.