Verizon Bid to Reopen 20-Year-Old Florida Tax Returns Rejected

A Florida appeals court panel declined Wednesday to reopen closed tax years so Verizon Communications Inc. can take income tax deductions it didn’t realize were available.

Verizon argued that federal mitigation rules should apply to soften the statute of limitations in this case, because Florida’s corporate income tax statute conforms to the federal tax code unless the legislature specifically makes an exception.

Incorporating federal tax law is meant to promote efficiency, “but the procedure Verizon advocated here isn’t efficient at all,” Chief Judge Timothy D. Osterhaus wrote for the Florida First District Court of Appeal. “Recovering and reviewing voluminous aged ...