Logic vs. the Statute: When Federal Conformity Makes No Sense

Peter Faber wrote this bylined article about how taxpayers have “a reasonable chance” to decouple from federal taxable income in court if they can demonstrate that the federal tax provisions are different from state tax regimes and thus do not apply. “It is a well-accepted principle of statutory construction that a statute’s literal language will not be followed when to do so would produce an absurd result. That principle should be applied to tax statutes as well as to other statutes,” Mr. Faber wrote.