Intermountain Insurance Service of Vail v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge TATEL.

TATEL, Circuit Judge:

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue and Intermountain Insurance Service of Vail disagree about Intermountain’s 1999 gross income to the tune of approximately $2 million, a disagreement arising from Intermountain’s sale of assets and centering primarily on the Commissioner’s conclusion that Intermountain inflated its basis in those assets. But deciding whether Intermountain inflated its basis must wait for another day because we must first answer an antecedent question: did the Commissioner wait, too long to adjust…