On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States reshaped the federal tax landscape when it overturned the long-standing Chevron doctrine in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451. The Chevron doctrine, a pillar of US administrative law for four decades, required courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute even where the court concluded that a different interpretation was better supported.
By ending the Chevron doctrine, Loper Bright has created new opportunities for taxpayers to challenge federal tax regulations. While taxpayers have long challenged federal tax regulations, Chevron’s deferential regime hampered many challenges to tax regulations because where there was statutory ambiguity or silence, courts generally deferred to agency interpretations. Loper Bright has evened the playing field between taxpayers and agencies because now both must convince courts that their interpretation of the statute is the best interpretation.
