Amazon Tax Fight was ‘Good Loss’ for IRS, Official Says

Amazon.com Inc.'s victory in a tax dispute was a “pretty good loss” for the IRS because the court still validated some of the government’s arguments, an agency official said.

Last year’s decision in the case from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit included “several very positive statements” for the IRS, including a footnote that indicated the case would have turned out differently if regulations currently in place had been effective for the tax years in question, Zeb Kelley, senior counsel at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel (International), said Thursday at a tax ...