Coltec Industries, Inc. v. United States

OPINION

BRADEN, Judge.

Many years ago, the United States Supreme Court in Atlantic Coast Line v. Phillips, 332 U.S. 168, 67 S.Ct. 1584, 91 L.Ed. 1977 (1947), quoting from prior decisions of Justice Holmes and Judge Learned Hand, observed:

As to the astuteness of taxpayers in ordering their affairs so as to minimize taxes we have said that ‘the very meaning of a line in the law is that you intentionally may go as close to it as you can if you do not pass it.’ This is so because [there is no] ‘public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions.’

I…