Court Opinion

ID: 9539264
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:01:24.230351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:58:39.815831
License: Public Domain

RABINO WITZ, Justice,
with whom MOORE, Chief Justice, joins, dissenting in part.
I dissent from the majority’s holding that 15 AAC 12.120 allows taxation of ANS price controlled crude oil at a sales price greater than the applicable ceiling price of that oil.1
The controlling language in the production tax regulation is the following phrase in 15 AAC 12.120(a): “[I]n no event may the value at the point of production for a taxpayer’s oil or gas exceed the ceiling price (if any) that is applicable to that oil or gas under a mandatory price control program.” The parties do not dispute that there was a mandatory price control program in effect; namely, the federal price ceilings imposed by the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOR itself found as a matter of fact that the DOE ceiling price did apply to ANS crude even where the ANS crude was internally transferred. There is no dispute that in 1977, DOE promulgated a rule which established that ANS price-controlled oil would be treated *314as if it were uncontrolled oil for purposes of the so-called “entitlements program.” Consequently, until this rule was changed in July of 1980, no refiner of ANS crude oil was subject to an “entitlement burden” on that oil. Also, there is no question that DOR understood the implications of the DOE entitlements program at the time that it drafted the regulation in question. It is evident that the regulation was crafted to address the proper production tax burden of the integrated producer-refiner, and to include reference to the entitlements system. See 15 AAC 12.120(b)(2).
It is undisputed that DOR subsequently interpreted the regulation in a manner which required all producers to report at “full ceiling price,” and which assessed all producers’ production values at a value no greater than the ceiling price. In two production tax decisions issued during this period, the Department affirmed that ceiling prices were a limitation on value at the point of production. In the Matter of Mobil Oil Corp., Rev.Dec. 83-17, (June 2, 1983); In the Matter of Getty Oil Co., Rev.Dec. 82-57, at 199-200 (Dec. 6, 1982). Also, memoranda produced by the Petroleum Revenue Division during this period indicate that the Division held the view that any value derived by refiners from the entitlements program was not production value.2
Despite this history, the state now asks this court first, to read the key language of 15 AAC 12.120(a) as follows: “[I]n no event may the value at the point of production ... exceed the ceiling price (if any) that is applicable_” This interpretation ignores the remainder of the sentence, which continues: “under a mandatory price control program.” The state contends that the regulation should be read as committing the applicability of the federal price control ceilings to its discretion, rather than establishing a hard and fast rule. Given that soaring oil prices coupled with the ANS entitlements exclusion led to increased profits for ANS refiners, the state argues, the ceiling price is not “applicable” to integrated producers, since they can be expected to share in the revenues received by their refinery counterpart. Thus, the so-called “entitlements benefit” of an integrated refiner should be treated as “production value” under 15 AAC 12.120(a).
This interpretation asks us to ignore a cardinal principle of statutory interpretation: Language that is clear and unambiguous in meaning should not be altered to create a new act, or in this instance, a new regulation. The phrase “price that is applicable” clearly and unambiguously refers to the federal price control program, and the sentence cannot logically be severed.
Nonetheless, the state ignores any problems of syntax and claims that its interpretation will vindicate the well-accepted tax principle that form should not triumph over substance. It claims that ARCO is using the “form” of the production tax to evade being taxed on the entitlements benefit, which it characterizes as value that was essentially “liberated” at the wellhead or, in other words, inherent in the oil in its natural state. In this regard, the state misapplies the so-called “substance over form” doctrine in three respects.
First, a fundamental aspect of the substance over form inquiry is whether the taxpayer has structured his transactions to evade tax liability. See Gregory v. Helvering, 293 U.S. 465, 469, 55 S.Ct. 266, 267-68, 79 L.Ed. 596 (1935). ARCO’s integrated structure existed prior to institution of the entitlements program.
Second, the proper inquiry as to the relationship between substance and form relative to the “value” of the entitlements benefit is this: Did the taxpayer receive something of benefit without incurring any of the obligations normally associated with that benefit? See, for example, Strick Corp. v. United States, 714 F.2d 1194,1206 (3d Cir.1983), cert, denied, 466 U.S. 971, 104 S.Ct. 2345, 80 L.Ed.2d 819 (1984). I *315conclude that ARCO incurred the obligations normally associated with the benefit of production income because it paid taxes on its production income pursuant to 15 AAC 12.120.
Third, the tension between substance and form is inherent in the taxation of any natural resource. As we noted in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. State, 705 P.2d 418, 425 (Alaska 1985): “Before it is transported for sale, oil, like coal, has inherent value, to which profits and income can properly be attributed.” The concept of “inherent value,” however, is intangible. Any effort to allocate this “value” to different stages in the production and processing of a natural resource through statutory definitions is by its very nature an exercise of form, or artifice.
The mere existence of this tension is not a sufficient reason to strike down a valid regulation. Through the provisions of AS 43.21, our legislature directed DOR to craft a regulatory structure that would recapture some portion of this “value” at various points in the production and processing of the crude oil resource. In other words, the legislature directed DOR to provide its best estimate of the way in which the “form” of the tax structure should approximate the “substance” of the inherent value. DOR performed this task through 15 AAC 12.120. The language of this regulation is clear. We can not now, under the slogan of “substance over form,” champion a new standard, absent ambiguity in the existing regulation.
If the issue is considered from the point of view of refiners, it is clear that all refiners of ANS crude oil were benefitted by the lack of an entitlements burden during the period in question. This benefit, like the benefits from the price controls, resulted in additional profits for ANS refiners. ARCO’s refinery profits are no more or less real than the profits of a non-integrated refiner who refined ANS crude.
For the foregoing reasons I reject the state’s contentions that refinery profits of some, but not all, of these refiners of ANS crude oil now may be taxed as production income, despite the clear language of the applicable regulation.3

. As a preliminary matter, I note that the independent judgment standard of review is applicable, as the entitlement question as it is framed in this appeal involves a question of statutory interpretation not involving agency expertise. See Natl Bank of Alaska v. State, Dep’t of Revenue, 642 P.2d 811, 815 (Alaska 1982). Additionally, due to the marked inconsistency between DOR’s historical interpretation of production tax valuation and its current position, the appropriate weight of the agency’s current interpretation is called into question. See Earth Resources Co. v. State, Dep’t of Revenue, 665 P.2d 960, 965 (Alaska 1983) (noting that the substitution of judgment test is appropriate where the knowledge and experience of the agency is of little guidance to the court). The standard of review, however, is not dispositive on the entitlements question, as DOR’s interpretation is unreasonable.

. The state responds that the Division’s opinions were not binding on DOR or, in the alternative, that the opinions were "mistakes.” To the extent that agency expertise is implicated in this issue, however, the views of the Division are relevant to our understanding of the entitlements issue.

. ARCO raised several other arguments before the superior court. While these arguments were not reached by the superior court in its ruling, they may provide grounds for affir-mance of that ruling. See State v. Bering Strait Regional Educ. Attendance Area, 658 P.2d 784, 786 (Alaska 1983) (issues raised before lower court, though not reached in its ruling, may be relied upon on appeal to affirm the ruling in question). ARCO’s arguments before the superi- or court included the following: That to tax the revenue at issue results in double taxation, since the entitlements benefits were taxed by the state as apportionable income under AS 43.21.040; that such taxation denies ARCO due process of law; that the state’s arguments in this case contradict its position before us in Atlantic Rich-field Co. v. State, 705 P.2d 418' (Alaska 1985), where the state argued that AS 43.21.020 excluded from gross production revenue all income from "downstream" activities; that DOR’s interpretation violates the commerce clause, as it discriminates against out-of-state companies; that DOR’s interpretation deprives ARCO of equal protection by treating some producers differently from others; that DOR’s attempt to tax ANS at decontrolled values violates the supremacy clause by manipulating oil revenues in contradiction of the federal price control program; and that the hearing process did not provide ARCO with due process of law. Given my view that the regulatory language is dispositive, I find it unnecessary to address the merits of any of these claims.