Plain text of disaster relief statute is central issue

The core argument advanced by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), and Aprio Advisory Group, among others, is that the plain text controls. They contend § 7508A(d) requires the disaster period to be “disregarded in the same manner as a period specified under subsection (a).” That cross-reference, they argue, incorporates all three relief provisions in subsection (a): the timeliness of acts, “the amount of any interest,” and the amount of any credit or refund.

The Chamber, which filed in support of neither party, emphasizes that the interest relief in paragraph (a)(2) is an independent rule, not merely a consequence of the timeliness rule in paragraph (a)(1). The Center for Taxpayer Rights adds a surplusage argument: if interest relief applied only to liabilities due during the disaster period, it would be redundant, because paragraph (a)(1) already prevents interest from accruing on those liabilities.

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