The following are summaries of selected civil opinions issued by the Fifth Circuit in October 2024. The summaries are overviews of particular aspects of the opinions; please review the entire opinions.
TAX: Ordering taxable articles to be shipped to the United States for resale makes one an “importer” under the Internal Revenue Code.
Tex. Truck Parts & Tire, Inc. v. United States, 118 F.4th 687 (5th Cir. 2024).
Texas Truck bought tires from Chinese manufacturers, who shipped them directly to Texas Truck. The manufacturers represented that their quotes for the tires included federal excise taxes, but the IRS later determined that no such taxes had been paid. The IRS found that Texas Truck, not the manufacturers, was the “importer” under a tire-tax provision and, therefore, owed unpaid excise taxes. The district court ruled in favor of Texas Truck, determining that the Chinese manufacturers were the importers, not Texas Truck. The Fifth Circuit reversed.