This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before

publication in the New York Reports.

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No. 127 

The People of the State of New 

York, &c., et al.,

 Respondents,

 v.

Sprint Nextel Corp., et al.,

 Appellants.

Kannon K. Shanmugam, for appellants.

Steven C. Wu, for respondents.

Institute for Professionals in Taxation; Council on

State Taxation; Broadband Tax Institute; Taxpayers Against Fraud

Education Fund; Chamber of Commerce of the United States of

America; and The Business Council of New York State, Inc., amici

curiae.

LIPPMAN, Chief Judge:

We hold that: (1) the New York Tax Law imposes sales

tax on interstate voice service sold by a mobile provider along

with other services for a fixed monthly charge; (2) the statute

is unambiguous; (3) the statute is not preempted by federal law;

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(4) the Attorney General's (AG) complaint sufficiently pleads a

cause of action under the New York False Claims Act (FCA)(State

Finance Law § 187 et seq.); and (5) the damages recoverable under

the FCA are not barred by the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United

States Constitution. 

In 1989, the United States Supreme Court held that the

dormant Commerce Clause of the Federal Constitution limited the

states' authority to tax interstate telephone calls. A

telephone call was taxable only if it originated or terminated

within the state and was charged to an in-state billing or

service address (see Goldberg v Sweet, 488 US 252, 256 n 6, 263

[1989]).

The Goldberg rule was easy to apply to landline

telephones, which had fixed physical locations. But the next

decade saw "an explosion of growth in the wireless

telecommunications industry" (HR Rep 106-719, 106th Congress, 2d

Sess at 7, reprinted in 2000 US Code Cong & Admin News at 509),

[2000]), and states and service providers struggled to adapt the

Goldberg nexus requirement to mobile telephone calls. States

developed different methods to determine which mobile calls to

tax. As a result, some mobile telephone calls were subject to

taxation by multiple jurisdictions (id., at 7-8). 

A further complication was introduced as mobile

carriers began to sell flat-rate voice plans that charged a fixed

monthly price for access to a nationwide network, as opposed to

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charging calls by the minute, regardless of where the calls were

placed or received. These flat-rate plans made it "virtually

impossible to determine the portion of th[e] price charged for

individual calls, each of which may be subject to tax by a

different jurisdiction," and thus "impossible to determine the

amount of revenues to which each of the various state and local

transaction taxes should be applied" (S Rep 106-326, 106th

Congress, 2d Sess at 2).

Congress responded by enacting the Mobile

Telecommunications Sourcing Act (MTSA)(4 USC § 116 et seq.) The

MTSA establishes a uniform "sourcing" rule for state taxation of

mobile telecommunications services: the only state that may

impose a tax is the state of the customer's "place of primary

use" -- either a residential or primary business address, as

selected by the customer (4 USC §§ 117 [b], 124 [8]). 

The New York Legislature responded to the MTSA in 2002

by enacting multiple amendments to the Tax Law that clarified and

amended the State's treatment of mobile telecommunications

services. Under the preexisting law that was enacted in 1965,

New York did not tax any interstate or international calls. As

relevant here, the 2002 amendments implemented a new set of rules

-- specifically, those applicable to voice services sold through

flat-rate plans. 

Another legislative amendment, this one from 2010, led

directly to the issues posed by this litigation. The FCA

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provides for enforcement by both the AG (in civil enforcement

actions) and private plaintiffs on behalf of the government (in

"qui tam civil actions"), and the AG has the right to intervene

and file a superceding complaint in a qui tam action (State

Finance Law § 190 [1], [2], [5]). The Act provides for the

imposition of treble damages and civil penalties against

violators (id. at § 189 [1]). 

The FCA applies to any person who "knowingly makes,

uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement

material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property

to" the government (id. at 189 [1] [g]). The statute provides

that a defendant acts "knowingly" when defendant has "actual

knowledge" of a record's or statement's truth or falsity or "acts

in deliberate ignorance" or "reckless disregard" of its truth or

falsity (id. at § 188 [3] [a]).

As originally enacted, the New York FCA did not apply

to false tax claims. But, in 2010, the legislature amended it to

cover "claims, records, or statements made under the tax law" in

certain circumstances (L 2010, ch 379, § 3, codified at State

Finance Law § 189 [4]). The amendment was designed to "provide

an additional enforcement tool against those who file false

claims under the Tax Law," and thus "deter the submission of

false tax claims" while also "provid[ing] additional recoveries

to the State and to local governments" (Letter from St Dept of

Tax & Fin, Aug 4, 2010 at 2, Bill Jacket, L 2010, ch 379). 

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Sprint is a wireless telecommunications service

provider that does business in New York, and it sells wireless

"flat-rate" plans that include a certain number of minutes of

talk time for a fixed monthly charge. After the New York Tax Law

amendments were enacted in 2002, Sprint paid sales tax on all of

its receipts from its flat-rate plans. 

In 2005, however, Sprint began a nationwide program of

"unbundling" charges within these flat-rate monthly plans.

Specifically, Sprint unbundled the portion of the fixed monthly

charge that it attributed to intrastate mobile voice services,

and did not collect taxes on the portion that it attributed to

interstate and international calls. For the tax years at issue,

the percentage of the fixed monthly charge on which Sprint

collected sales tax ranged from 71.5% to 83.6%. Sprint did not

separately state on customers' bills the charges for interstate

and international voice services included in the flat-rate plan.

On March 31, 2011, Empire State Ventures, LLC, filed

suit against Sprint under the New York FCA. On April 19, 2012,

the AG filed a superceding complaint, which converted the

relator's action into a civil enforcement action by the AG.

The AG's complaint, as relevant here, alleges that

section 1105 (b) (2) of the New York Tax Law "requires the

payment of sales taxes on the full amount of fixed periodic

charges for wireless voice services sold by companies like Sprint

to New York customers." It further alleges that section 1111 (l)

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permits wireless providers to "treat separately for sales tax

purposes certain components of a bundled charge for mobile

telecommunications services, so long as the charges are not for

voice services." The complaint asserts that Sprint violated the

Tax Law by failing to collect sales tax on the portion of its

flat-rate charge that was attributable to interstate and

international voice services. It further alleges that Sprint's

decision to unbundle its plans sold for a fixed monthly charge

"was driven by its desire to gain an advantage over its

competitors by reducing the amount of sales taxes it collected

from its customers and, thereby, appearing to be a low-cost

carrier." According to the AG, the percentages of the flat-rate

charges that Sprint allocated to interstate and international

calls were completely arbitrary.

In support of its allegations that Sprint knowingly

submitted false tax statements, the AG cites a Tax Department

guidance memorandum published before the 2002 amendments became

effective, which states that the sales tax is to be applied in

the manner that the AG now advocates. The AG points out that

Sprint adhered to this guidance until July 2005, when it changed

its tax practices. Interestingly, Sprint did not seek a tax

refund for the 2002 - 2005 tax years in which it paid those

taxes.

The AG further alleges that Sprint also disregarded the

statements of a Tax Department field auditor and enforcement

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official advising Sprint in 2009 and 2011, respectively, that its

sales tax practice was illegal, and that it disregarded the fact

that the other major wireless carriers, unlike Sprint, did not

break their fixed monthly charges for voice services into

intrastate and interstate subparts for sales tax purposes, but

instead collected and paid sales tax on the full fixed periodic

charge for voice services. 

As relevant to this appeal, the complaint's causes of

action are all based on the same underlying contention that

Sprint knowingly violated the Tax Law, engaged in fraudulent or

illegal acts pursuant to Executive Law § 63 (12), and submitted

false documents to the State pursuant to the FCA. The AG

requests civil penalties and treble damages for each of the false

tax documents submitted to the State. 

Sprint moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to

state a cause of action under CPLR 3211. As relevant here,

Supreme Court denied the motion, holding that the Tax Law

unambiguously imposes a tax on receipts from every sale of mobile

telecommunications services that are voice services sold for a

fixed periodic charge (see People v Sprint Nextel Corp., 41 Misc

3d 511 [Sup Ct, NY County 2013]). Moreover, even if the Tax Law

permitted Sprint to exclude from taxable receipts a portion of

its fixed monthly mobile voice charge to account for interstate

and international calls, the Tax Law also required Sprint to use

an objective, reasonable, and verifiable standard for identifying

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the nontaxable components of the charge -- but the complaint

alleges that Sprint failed to comply with this requirement by

using "arbitrary" figures that were "not related to any

customer's actual usage" (id. at 515). The court also concluded

that the complaint "alleges in great detail" how Sprint knowingly

submitted false tax statements to the Tax Department, in

violation of the FCA. Supreme Court further held that New York's

Tax Law does not conflict with the federal MTSA, and rejected

Sprint's assertion that the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United

States Constitution bars retroactive application of the FCA

penalties and damages.

The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the denial

of Sprint's motion to dismiss (114 AD3d 622 [1st Dept 2014]). 

The Court held that the AG's complaint adequately alleges that

Sprint violated the FCA, Executive Law § 63 (12), and the Tax Law

"by knowingly making false statements material to an obligation

to pay sales tax pursuant to Tax Law § 1105 (b)(2)" (id. at 622). 

In addition, the Court rejected Sprint's claim that the Tax Law

is preempted by the MTSA, and its claim that retroactive

application of the FCA would be unconstitutional. The Appellate

Division then certified the following question to this Court:

"Was the order of the Supreme Court, as affirmed by . . . this

Court, properly made?"

In Matter of Helio, LLC (2015 WL 4192425, 2015 NY Tax

LEXIS ___, NY St Tax Appeals Trib DTA No. 825010, July 2, 2015),

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the New York Tax Appeals Tribunal held that the language of Tax

Law § 1105 (b) is unambiguous, and imposes sales tax on

interstate voice service sold by a mobile provider along with

other services for a fixed monthly charge. We agree.

Section 1105 (b) of the Tax Law provides that tax

should be paid on:

"(1) [t]he receipts from every sale, other

than sales for resale, of the following . . .

(B) telephony and telegraphy and telephone

and telegraph service of whatever nature

except interstate and international telephony

and telegraphy and telephone and telegraph

service and except any telecommunications

service the receipts from the sale of which

are subject to tax under paragraph two of

this subdivision . . . .

"(2) The receipts from every sale of mobile

telecommunications service provided by a home

service provider, other than sales for

resale, that are voice services, or any other

services that are taxable under subparagraph

(B) of paragraph one of this subdivision,

sold for a fixed periodic charge (not

separately stated), whether or not sold with

other services"

(Tax Law § 1105 [b]).

 The subject of the present dispute is the meaning of

the phrase "or any other services that are taxable under

subparagraph (B) of paragraph one of this subdivision" (Tax Law 

§ 1105 [b] [2]). Sprint contends that this language excepts from

sales tax its bundled charges from interstate and international

calls. The AG, on the other hand, asserts that all mobile calls

are subject to tax under paragraph (b) (2), unless they are

separately stated on the customer's bill.

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First, subparagraph (b) (1) does not affect the

taxability of all mobile voice services under subparagraph (b)

(2) because (b) (2) is a specific provision under section 1105

which applies only to the sale of mobile telecommunications,

whereas (b) (1) applies to telephony and telegraphy generally. 

"[W]henever there is a general and a particular provision in the

same statute, the general does not overrule the particular but

applies only where the particular enactment is inapplicable"

(McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 238). 

 Here, the plain language of the statute subjects to tax

all "voice services" that are "sold for a fixed periodic charge"

(Tax Law § 1105 [b] [2]). Sprint does not contest that the

services at issue are such services. No part of subparagraph (b)

(2) differentiates between intrastate or interstate and

international voice service. The statute also taxes "any other

services . . . taxable under subparagraph (B)" (id.). Sprint's

interpretation of the statute would make superfluous the words

"voice services, or any other" in subparagraph (b) (2) (see

Leader v Maroney, Ponzini & Spencer, 97 NY2d 95, 104 [2001]

["meaning and effect should be given to every word of a

statute"]). The phrase "any other services that are taxable

under subparagraph (B)" must refer to services other than "voice

services." Accordingly, it is unambiguous that Tax Law § 1105

(b) (2) imposes taxation on all voice services sold for a fixed

periodic charge, including the interstate and international calls

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at issue here.

This interpretation of the statute is bolstered by Tax

Law § 1111 (l)(2), which provides special rules for computing

receipts from the sale of mobile telecommunications. This

section allows for the separate accounting of bundled services

which are non-taxable, if the provider can provide "an objective,

reasonable and verifiable standard for identifying each of the

components of the charge" -- but specifically applies only if it

is "not a voice service" (Tax Law § 1111 [l] [2] [emphasis

added]). 

Next, Sprint asserts that such an interpretation of the

New York Tax Law is preempted by the MTSA. This argument is

unavailing. Sprint cites 4 USC § 123 (b) for the presumption

that taxes may not be applied to interstate and international

calls which are bundled with intrastate calls where the service

provider can reasonably identify charges not subject to the tax. 

Section 123 (b) provides:

"If a taxing jurisdiction does not otherwise

subject charges for mobile telecommunications

service to taxation and if these charges are

aggregated with and not separately stated

from charges that are subject to taxation,

then the charges for nontaxable mobile

telecommunications services may be subject to

taxation unless the home service provider can

reasonably identify charges not subject to

such tax, charge, or fee from its books and

records that are kept in the regular course

of business"

(4 USC § 123 [b] [emphasis added]). 

This bundling provision expressly opens by respecting

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and incorporating state authority, rather than restricting it. 

Section 123 (b) anticipates disaggregation only of charges "not

otherwise subject . . . to [state] taxation." Because the New

York Tax Law imposes a tax on the entire amount of the fixed

monthly charge for voice services, there is no exemption for any

interstate and international component that would even trigger

section 123 (b)'s exception here. However, no provision of the

MTSA prohibits the taxation of interstate and international

mobile calls. In fact, Congress eliminated this distinction in

light of advances in mobile telecommunications technology. 

Section 117 (b) of the MTSA allows for the taxation of "[a]ll

charges for mobile telecommunications services . . . subject[ ]

to tax . . . by the taxing jurisdictions whose territorial limits

encompass the customer's place of primary use, regardless of

where the mobile telecommunication services originate, terminate,

or pass through." Accordingly, the AG's interpretation of the

New York Tax Law is not preempted by the federal MTSA.

As to the AG's cause of action under the FCA, in order

to be liable under the FCA, a party must knowingly make a false

statement or knowingly file a false record. The FCA defines

"knowingly" to mean "that a person, with respect to information:

(i) has actual knowledge of the information; (ii) acts in

deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information;

or (iii) acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of

the information" (State Finance Law § 188). 

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Sprint asserts that there is a reasonable

interpretation of the tax law that does not subject bundled

interstate and international calls to sales tax and, thus, there

can be no knowingly false record or statement, and no valid FCA

claim. This is not the stuff that a CPLR 3211 dismissal is made

of. Even assuming there could be such a reasonable

interpretation in the face of this unambiguous statute, it cannot

shield a defendant from liability if, as the complaint alleges

here, the defendant did not in fact act on that interpretation

(see United States ex rel. Oliver v Parsons Co., 195 F3d 457, 463

[9th Cir 1999]). Otherwise, "[a] defendant could submit a claim,

knowing it is false or at least with reckless disregard as to

falsity . . . but nevertheless avoid liability by successfully

arguing that its claim reflected a 'reasonable interpretation' of

the requirements" (id. at 462, n 3). Sprint will have to

substantiate in further proceedings that it actually held such

reasonable belief and actually acted upon it. 

Sprint argues that in Helio (DTA No. 825010), upon the

taxpayer's defeat at the Tax Appeals Tribunal on the issue of

taxability of bundled interstate and international mobile

telecommunications services, the Department of Taxation and

Finance imposed only minimum interest because the audit report

stated that "reasonable cause existed" for the taxpayer's

position. But here, the AG alleges that Sprint, which is a much

larger service provider, did not act in good faith and that it

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did not rely on what it now calls "its reasonable interpretation

of the statute" when it made its decision to alter its tax

practices. Importantly, although the Tax Appeals Tribunal stated

that Helio's similar position was reasonable, that case did not

involve the level of deception and fraud alleged on the part of

Sprint here. 

Nevertheless, the AG has a high burden to surmount in

this case. The FCA is certainly not to be applied in every case

where taxes were not paid. Further, notice of a contrary

administrative position alone is not nearly enough to prove fraud

or recklessness under the FCA. There can be no doubt the AG will

have to prove the allegations of fraud, that Sprint knew the AG's

interpretation of the statute was proper, and that Sprint did not

actually rely on a reasonable interpretation of the statute in

good faith. But, given the complaint's allegations about the

agency guidance and industry compliance with the AG's position,

Sprint's payment of the proper amount of sales tax between 2002

and 2005, Sprint's undisclosed reversal of its practices in 2005, 

and the explicit warnings that Sprint received from the Tax

Department, the AG has stated a cause of action for a false

claim. On a CPLR 3211 motion to dismiss, the Court accepts facts

as alleged in the complaint as true, accords the plaintiff the

benefit of every possible favorable inference, and determines

whether the facts as alleged fit within any cognizable legal

theory (Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87-88 [1994]). It is

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premature to dismiss this complaint on such a motion. The AG is

entitled to discovery, and there are factual issues that must be

fleshed out in further proceedings. 

We also hold that retroactive application of the FCA is

not barred by the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States

Constitution (US Const Art 1, § 10). In analyzing whether such

application of the statute is barred by the US Constitution, we

must first consider whether the legislature intended the FCA to

establish "civil" proceedings, and if so, whether it is "so

punitive either in purpose or effect as to negate the State's

intention to deem it civil" (Smith v Doe, 538 US 84, 92 [2003]

[internal punctuation and citations omitted]). The FCA provides

that a person who "knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly

avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or transmit money or

property to the state or a local government, or conspires to do

the same; shall be liable to the state . . . for a civil penalty

of not less than six thousand dollars and not more than twelve

thousand dollars" plus treble damages (State Finance Law § 189

[1] [h]). 

To assess whether the FCA is punitive, we look to seven

factors highlighted by the United States Supreme Court "to

determine whether an Act . . . is penal or regulatory in

character" (Kennedy v Mendoza-Martinez, 372 US 144, 168 [1963]). 

These include:

"[w]hether the sanction involves an

affirmative disability or restraint, whether

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it has historically been regarded as a

punishment, whether it comes into play only

on a finding of scienter, whether its

operation will promote the traditional aims

of punishment — retribution and deterrence,

whether the behavior which it applies is

already a crime, whether an alternative

purpose to which it may rationally be

connected is assignable for it, and whether

it appears excessive in relation to the

alternative purpose assigned"

(id. at 168-169).

The balance of the factors here weighs in favor of

permitting retroactive application. The penalty scheme does not

impose an affirmative disability or restraint, and monetary

penalties like those imposed by the FCA have not "historically

been viewed as punishment" (United States ex rel. Bilotta v

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., 50 F Supp 3d 497, 544 [SD NY

2014] [quotation marks and citations omitted]). 

Although this Court previously stated that the FCA's

penalty and damage scheme serves the aims of punishment,

retribution, and deterrence (State of N.Y. ex rel. Grupp v DHL

Express (USA), Inc., 19 NY3d 278, 286-287 [2012]), federal courts

have determined that the FCA's provision imposing "treble damages

carries a compensatory, remedial purpose alongside its punitive

and deterrent goals" (Kane ex rel. US v Healthfirst, Inc., 2015

WL 4619686, 2015 US Dist LEXIS 101778, *69 [SD NY Aug 3, 2015 No.

11 CIV. 2325 (ER)]; see also Bilotta, 50 F Supp 3d at 545-546; US

ex rel. Colucci v Beth Israel Medical Center, 603 F Supp 2d 677,

683 [SD NY 2009]). As a result, the penalty and damages scheme

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of the FCA "does not compel a conclusion that the statute is

penal" (Bilotta, 50 F Supp 3d at 546). 

Also, the FCA does not regulate conduct that was

already a crime, and the penalty scheme may be rationally

connected to the nonpunitive purposes of allowing the government

to be made whole (see Cook County v United States ex rel.

Chandler, 538 US 119, 130-132 [2003]). Finally, given the

compensatory, nonpunitive aims of the statute, the penalties are

not unduly excessive. 

As the United States Supreme Court stated in Smith,

"only the clearest proof will suffice" to "transform what has

been denominated a civil remedy into a criminal penalty (538 US

at 92 [quotation marks and citations omitted]). Here, while the

treble damages to be imposed are severe, Sprint's arguments do

not outweigh the Mendoza factors that weigh in favor of

retroactive application, nor do they amount to the "clearest

proof" required by Smith. Therefore, the retroactive application

of the FCA does not trigger the Ex Post Facto Clause of the

United States Constitution.

Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should

be affirmed, with costs, and the certified question answered in

the affirmative.

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People ex rel. Empire State Ventures, LLC v Sprint Nextel Corp.

No. 127 

STEIN, J.(dissenting in part):

In my view, Tax Law § 1105 (b) (2) is an ambiguous

statute. Given the procedural course the People have charted

here, we are required to interpret any ambiguity in favor of

Sprint, as the taxpayer, for the purpose of resolving Sprint's

motion to dismiss. Because the Attorney General cannot establish

that Sprint's tax filings were actually false in light of this

ambiguity, the complaint's principal allegation -- that Sprint

violated the Tax Law by failing to collect sales tax due on

interstate mobile voice services based upon its purportedly

erroneous interpretation of the applicable statute -- must fail

and cannot form the basis of a cause of action pursuant to the

False Claims Act, Executive Law § 63 (12) or Tax Law article 28. 

Therefore, I respectfully disagree with the majority insofar as

its affirmative answer to the certified question is premised upon

its conclusion that the complaint adequately alleges fraud by

claiming "that Sprint knew the AG's interpretation of the statute

was proper, and that Sprint did not actually rely on a reasonable

interpretation of the statute in good faith" (Majority Op, at

14). To the contrary, the complaint has not sufficiently alleged

a violation of the Tax Law on this basis in the first instance,

let alone a knowing, fraudulent or "bad faith" violation.

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However, while the complaint does not set forth viable

claims arising out of Sprint's interpretation of the statute, it

does adequately allege actual falsity and illegality based upon

the method used by Sprint in calculating the portion of its fixed

monthly charges that were attributable to interstate mobile voice

services. Accepting as true the complaint's assertions that

Sprint's calculation of those charges was essentially arbitrary -

- and, therefore, that Sprint's tax filings bore no rational

relation to the amount of interstate mobile calls that were

actually made -- the complaint sufficiently alleges that Sprint

violated the Tax Law, engaged in persistent fraud and illegality

under Executive Law § 63 (12) and knowingly made or used false

records within the meaning of the False Claims Act. Thus,

although I would answer the certified question in the negative --

the orders below were not properly made -- I would partially

affirm the Appellate Division order insofar as it allowed the

action to proceed on that narrow ground.

I.

Tax Law § 1105 (b) (2) is ambiguous because it lends

itself to more than one plausible or reasonable interpretation

(see Matter of Golf v New York State Dept. of Social Servs., 91

NY2d 656, 662-663 [1998]). The language that the majority holds

to be unambiguous reads as follows: "[T]here is hereby imposed

and there shall be paid a tax of four percent upon . . . [t]he

receipts from every sale of mobile telecommunications service

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provided by a home service provider . . . that are voice

services, or any other services that are taxable under

subparagraph [(b) (1) (B)], sold for a fixed periodic charge (not

separately stated), whether or not sold with other services" (Tax

Law § 1105 [b] [2]). The subparagraph referenced therein, Tax

Law § 1105 (b) (1) (B), subjects to tax "[t]he receipts from

every sale . . . of . . . telephony and telegraphy and telephone

and telegraph service of whatever nature except interstate and

international telephony and telegraphy and telephone and

telegraph service and except any telecommunications service the

receipts from the sale of which are subject to tax under

[sub]paragraph [(b) (2)]."

Applying the canon of construction that a provision of

a statute that applies to a specific situation will override a

general provision, the majority concludes that subparagraph

(b) (1) (B) applies to telephony and telegraphy, generally,

whereas subparagraph (b) (2) applies specifically to the sale of

"mobile telecommunications" (Majority Op, at 10). The majority

and the Attorney General read subparagraph (b) (2) as providing

for the taxation of "every sale of mobile telecommunications

services . . . that are voice services sold for a fixed periodic

charge" (Tax Law § 1105 [b] [2]) (whether interstate or

intrastate) and also allowing for the taxation of "other services

that are taxable under subparagraph [(b) (1) (B)]" (id.; see

Majority Op, at 10). The majority concludes that "it is

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unambiguous that Tax Law § 1105 (b) (2) imposes taxation on all

voice services sold for a fixed periodic charge, including the

interstate and international calls at issue here" because, to

read the statute otherwise, "would make superfluous the words

'voice services, or any other' in subparagraph (b) (2)" (Majority

Op, at 10). The majority's interpretation of the statute is

unquestionably appealing in its simplicity. Under that reading,

subparagraph (b) (2) provides that mobile voice services are

always taxable unless separately stated, regardless of whether

they are interstate or intrastate, and the subparagraph (b) (1)

(B) limitation on taxation of interstate services does not govern

mobile voice services at all.

While I cannot disagree that such interpretation is

reasonable, I note that even the Attorney General concedes that

subparagraph (b) (1) (B), which differentiates between interstate

and intrastate services, continues to exempt certain mobile voice

services from taxation. Specifically, the Attorney General

acknowledges that "[t]o be sure, (b) (2) itself provides that (b)

(1) (B)'s tax rule persists for certain types of mobile service

charges" and, therefore, "interstate mobile calls . . . that are

not sold for a flat fee, but instead [are] 'separately stated'"

(emphasis added) remain taxable under subparagraph (b) (1) (B). 

Similarly, the Attorney General's complaint explains that, "[f]or

overage minutes that are charged to customers on a per-minute

usage basis, Sprint and other wireless carriers are required to

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collect and pay New York state and local sales taxes only when

such calls are intrastate, and are not required to collect and

pay them on such calls that are interstate" (emphasis added). 

Thus, although the majority notes that "[n]o part of subparagraph

(b) (2) differentiates between intrastate or interstate and

international voice service" (Majority Op, at 10), the Attorney

General concedes that some interstate mobile voice services

remain nontaxable under subparagraph (b) (1) (B), and the

statutory differentiation between intrastate and interstate

service persists for such services.

Accepting the Attorney General's concession that the

limitation on interstate taxation in (b) (1) (B) continues to

apply to at least some mobile voice services, I would hold that

Sprint has plausibly read the language in dispute -- "voice

services, or any other services that are taxable under

subparagraph [(b) (1) (B)]" (Tax Law § 1105 [b] [2]) -- as

incorporating the (b) (1) (B) rule for both voice services and

any other mobile services. Ultimately, the Attorney General

reads subparagraph (b) (2) as taxing all mobile voice services

that are sold for a fixed periodic charge, while applying the

(b) (1) (B) rule to other types of mobile telecommunications

services, whereas Sprint reads the language at issue just

slightly more broadly as applying the (b) (1) (B) rules to mobile

"voice services, or any other [mobile] services" (Tax Law § 1105

[b] [2]). Under Sprint's interpretation, the purpose of

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subparagraph (b) (2) is to expressly provide that services that

are taxable under subparagraph (b) (1) (B) -- text messaging,

intrastate voice services, etc. -- remain taxable even if bundled

with nontaxable services. That reading of this less-than-clear

statutory text -- while perhaps not the most logical

interpretation -- is not unreasonable as a matter of law,

particularly in light of the relatively small gap that exists

between the parties' interpretations.

Similarly, Tax Law § 1111 (l) (2) can be read in more

than one reasonable manner. That section provides that certain

enumerated categories of untaxed nonvoice services, which are

bundled with taxable services, are subject to sales tax unless

the provider uses "an objective, reasonable and verifiable

standard for identifying" and quantifying the amount of each

component charge (Tax Law § 1111 [l] [2]). The parties are in

agreement that the statute applies only to nonvoice services. 

Applying the expressio unius est exclusio alterius canon of

statutory construction (see Matter of Jewish Home & Infirmary of

Rochester v Commissioner of N.Y. State Dept. of Health, 84 NY2d

252, 262 [1994]), the Attorney General argues that the

legislature's creation of an exception from the general rule for

the category of nonvoice services would imply that the category

of voice services was not to be excluded from the general rule. 

That interpretation certainly is reasonable, and reading section

1111 (l) (2) together with section 1105 (b) (2) supports the

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Attorney General's assertion that the legislature intended to

make all bundled voice services taxable, without permitting

carriers to exclude the interstate portion as nontaxable. 

However, Sprint's alternative construction of section 1111 (l)

(2) is also reasonable. Sprint argues that the focus of section

1111 (l) (2) is on nonvoice services and that the purpose of that

section is to enumerate the services -- such as internet access -

- that are also nontaxable, in addition to interstate voice

services. Under Sprint's view, there is no need to include

interstate voice services in the section 1111 (l) (2) list

because they are already exempt from taxation under subparagraph

1105 (b) (1) (B).

In short, both the Attorney General and Sprint have

advanced reasonable interpretations of the statutory language

and, because that language is susceptible of more than one

reasonable interpretation, it is inherently ambiguous. Indeed,

the only other court to consider Sprint's tax strategy under

section 1105 (b) deemed the "legal concepts at issue" here

"murky" (Louisiana Mun. Police Employee's Ret. Sys. v Hesse, 962

F Supp 2d 576, 589 [US Dist Ct SD NY 2013]).1 I recognize that

1 That case involved a derivative action commenced by

Sprint's shareholders against its directors, alleging that they

breached their fiduciary duties and wasted corporate assets by

permitting Sprint to adopt the tax policy at issue here, which

the shareholders alleged was clearly in violation of New York

law. The District Court granted the directors' motion to dismiss

for failure to state a claim. 

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the shareholders' derivative action with which that decision was

concerned is distinguishable and involves a completely different

body of law from that before us and, further, that the District

Court expressly declined to rule on whether Sprint's

interpretation of the statute was "reasonable" (id. at 590 n 7). 

Notwithstanding those distinctions, I agree with the District

Court that the legal concepts at issue here -- as well as the

statutory language -- are murky at best, and I cannot join the

majority decision holding that Tax Law § 1105 (b) is unambiguous.

II.

A finding that the statute is ambiguous has

implications in the Tax Law context that are not present in other

procedural contexts. Inasmuch as Sprint is not seeking a tax

exemption but, arguing instead, that the "transaction or event is

[not] subject to taxation" in the first instance (Matter of Grace

v New York State Tax Commn., 37 NY2d 193, 196 [1975]), the tax

statute at issue "must be narrowly construed and . . . any doubts

concerning its scope and application are to be resolved in favor

of the taxpayer" (Debevoise & Plimpton v New York State Dept. of

Taxation & Fin., 80 NY2d 657, 661 [1993]). In contrast, if this

case had proceeded through the usual administrative process and

the same arguments were before us in the context of a CPLR

article 78 proceeding involving a challenge to a Tax Department

audit and assessment, we could "defer to" the Tax Department as

"the governmental agency charged with the responsibility for

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administration of [a] statute in [a] case[] where interpretation

or application involves knowledge and understanding of underlying

operational practices or entails an evaluation of factual data

and inferences to be drawn therefrom, and the agency's

interpretation is not irrational or unreasonable" (Matter of New

York State Superfund Coalition, Inc. v New York State Dept. of

Envtl. Conservation, 18 NY3d 289, 296 [2011] [internal quotation

marks and citations omitted]; see Lorillard Tobacco Co. v Roth,

99 NY2d 316, 323 [2003]). 

Here, however, the Tax Department is not before us as a

party. Therefore, we cannot defer to its interpretation. 

Instead, the Attorney General has chosen to pursue Sprint in an

action in which its interpretation of the statute is not entitled

to deference and we are bound to resolve all ambiguities in

Sprint's favor, at least for the limited purpose of determining

whether the complaint states a claim and, consequently, whether

the courts below were correct in partially denying Sprint's

motion to dismiss.2 In turn, resolving the ambiguity in Sprint's

2 Resolution of the statutory ambiguities in Sprint's favor

is necessary only because the Attorney General has chosen to file

a superseding complaint in this whistleblower action, rather than

await the conclusion of the more typical administrative process. 

An acknowledgment of the facial ambiguities in the statute by

this Court need not prevent the Tax Department from applying its

expertise to the detailed labor of fitting tax filings into the

language of Tax Law § 1105 (b) (2) (see Lorillard, 99 NY2d at

323) in other matters proceeding through the administrative

pipeline, such as Matter of Helio, LLC (2015 WL 4192425 [NY Tax

App Trib, July 2, 2015]). Nor would such acknowledgment require

the Tax Department to grant refunds to other wireless carriers

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favor and adopting its interpretation necessarily means that the

complaint fails to adequately allege that Sprint's tax returns

were false simply because Sprint did not report receipts from the

interstate component of its mobile voice services for sales tax

purposes.

III.

As explained in United States ex rel. Oliver v Parsons

Co. (195 F3d 457, 461 [1999], cert denied 530 US 1228 [2000]),

upon which the majority relies, the complaint must adequately

allege three elements in order to state a cause of action under

the False Claims Act: (1) that Sprint filed the tax records at

issue, (2) that those records were actually false -- i.e., that

Sprint made a false statement or filed a false record because it

incorrectly stated the amount of sales tax owed under Tax Law §

1105 (b) -- and (3) that Sprint acted knowingly in doing so. Due

to the procedural posture of this action, a conclusion that the

statute is ambiguous precludes a showing of actual falsity, the

second element of the False Claims Act cause of action, as a

matter of law. That is, if the statute is ambiguous, our

precedent requires that we interpret it in Sprint's favor in this

plenary action, as explained above; and, if the statute is

interpreted in Sprint's favor, the complaint fails to adequately

who adopted the interpretation advanced by the Attorney General

and, therefore, collected and remitted sales tax on the receipts

from all interstate mobile voice services. 

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allege that Sprint's tax filings were based upon an incorrect

interpretation of the statute and, therefore, were actually

false. For the same reason, the complaint has not sufficiently

stated a claim under Executive Law § 63 (12) and Tax Law article

28 to the extent that those causes of action are based upon

allegations that Sprint knowingly relied upon an unreasonable

interpretation of Tax Law § 1105 (b). 

Actual falsity is a threshold element of a False Claims

Act cause of action (see Parsons, 195 F3d at 461). Actual

falsity does not relate to Sprint's mental state; rather, the

statutes' "meaning is ultimately the subject of judicial

interpretation, and it is [Sprint's] compliance with these

[statutes], as interpreted by this [C]ourt, that determines

whether its [tax strategy] resulted in the submission of a 'false

claim' under the Act" (Parsons, 195 F3d at 463). In other words,

"while the reasonableness of [Sprint's] interpretation of the

applicable [statutes] may be relevant to whether it knowingly

submitted a false claim, the question of 'falsity' itself is

determined by whether [Sprint's] representations were accurate in

light of the applicable law," as construed by the Court for the

purpose of determining whether the complaint states a cause of

action (id. [emphasis added]).

The complaint alleges that Sprint's sales tax filings

were false because Sprint "asserted [therein] that it owed less

in sales taxes [on interstate voice services] than it really did"

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based upon an alleged misinterpretation of Tax Law § 1105 (b). 

However, because the statute is ambiguous and its ambiguities

must be resolved in Sprint's favor, the complaint fails to

adequately allege any misinterpretation, regardless of whether

Sprint acted knowingly, recklessly or with deliberate ignorance. 

Stated differently, the complaint does not identify any tax

filings that satisfy the element of "falsity," in relation to

Sprint's interpretation of the statute. Because the complaint

does not adequately plead this threshold element, we need not

reach the question on which the majority focuses, i.e., whether

the complaint sufficiently alleges that Sprint acted "knowingly"

in making its purportedly false statements. 

IV.

That said, the determinations of the courts below

should be affirmed, in part, on a different ground. As the

Attorney General argues, even if the statutes at issue must be

interpreted in this proceeding as permitting Sprint to exclude

from its taxable receipts the portion of its flat-rate plans

attributable to interstate mobile voice services, the complaint

contains other allegations -- sufficient to survive a motion to

dismiss -- that Sprint's tax forms were false in another respect. 

Specifically, the complaint alleges that the arbitrary deduction

that Sprint applied to its receipts from interstate mobile voice

services did not, in fact, reflect the interstate calls of

Sprint's customers. The complaint sets forth detailed assertions

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that Sprint calculated the portion of its calls that were

interstate by arbitrarily applying a percentage used to calculate

an unrelated federal surcharge at times, but that Sprint did not

modify its allocations when the federal government changed the

percentage used to calculate the surcharge, nor did Sprint

consistently adhere to the percentage allocations. In that

regard, the Attorney General contends that Sprint did not even

attempt to identify the interstate component of its mobile voice

services, much less adhere to the disaggregation requirements set

out in federal and state law and, thus, it violated the Tax Law

in the manner in which it allocated the percentage of its fixed

monthly charges that was attributable to interstate mobile voice

service. On this appeal, which involves a CPLR 3211 motion 

to dismiss, "[w]e accept the facts as alleged in the complaint as

true, accord plaintiffs the benefit of every possible favorable

inference, and determine only whether the facts as alleged fit

within any cognizable legal theory . . . [because] the criterion

is whether the proponent of the pleading has a cause of action,

not whether [it] has stated one" (Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83,

87-88 [1994] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]). 

While plaintiffs may not have expressly pleaded any claims based

on Sprint's failure to use an objective standard as required by

state and federal laws addressing the proper unbundling of its

fixed monthly charges, the allegations to support such a claim

are set forth in the complaint and establish that plaintiffs have

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viable causes of action under the False Claims Act, Executive Law

§ 63 (12) and Tax Law article 28.

V.

In sum, Tax Law § 1105 (b) (2) is ambiguous because it

can be reasonably interpreted in more than one manner and,

inasmuch as it is a tax statute, section 1105 (b) (2) must be

interpreted in Sprint's favor for purposes of determining whether

the complaint adequately states a cause of action. If Sprint's

interpretation is deemed correct, as it must be, the complaint

necessarily fails to state a cause of action by asserting that

Sprint filed false returns simply by virtue of the fact that the

returns are consistent with that interpretation (whether Sprint

believed the interpretation to be correct or not). Therefore,

the causes of action under the False Claims Act, Executive Law §

63 (12) and Tax Law article 28 cannot be sustained on the basis

of the Attorney General's allegation that Sprint misinterpreted

the Tax Law. Those causes of action could, however, proceed on

the limited basis that Sprint's tax forms were knowingly false,

illegal and violative of the Tax Law because Sprint's arbitrary

method of calculating its deduction did not have any rational

connection to the amount of interstate calls actually made by

Sprint's customers. Accordingly, I would answer the certified

question in the negative and would modify the Appellate

Division's order by dismissing so much of the False Claims Act,

Executive Law and Tax Law causes of action that were based upon

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Sprint's purportedly erroneous interpretation of Tax Law § 1105

(b), and insofar as modified, would affirm the order allowing the

claims to proceed on the narrow ground set forth in this opinion.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Order affirmed, with costs, and certified question answered in

the affirmative. Opinion by Chief Judge Lippman. Judges Pigott,

Abdus-Salaam and Fahey concur. Judge Stein dissents in part in

an opinion. Judge Rivera took no part.

Decided October 20, 2015

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