Bloomberg Quotes Prof. Hickman on Anti-Injunction Act Issue’s Certiorari Prospects

Prof. Kristin Hickman was cited by Bloomberg Law in an article, Taxpayers’ Right to Fight Tax Rules May End Up at Supreme Court, about the likelihood that the Supreme Court will grant certiorari to consider whether the Internal Revenue Code’s Anti-Injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. s. 7421(a), permits pre-enforcement judicial review of Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service rules and regulations. The issue divided the Sixth Circuit last month when it narrowly denied rehearing en banc in CIC Services, LLC v. Internal Revenue Service, 2019 WL 4051864 (Aug. 28, 2019), with seven judges dissenting and Judge Jeffrey Sutton suggesting in concurrence that the Supreme Court should take up and resolve the issue. Bloomberg Law quoted Prof. Hickman as predicting that the Supreme Court will take up the issue eventually, whether or not it does so in CIC Services. The article also quotes Prof. Hickman as rejecting the argument that reading the Anti-Injunction Act as permitting pre-enforcement review would “shut down tax administration.”