Direct Supply, Inc. v. United States, No. 23-1936 (7th Cir. 2024)
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The case involves a dispute between Direct Supply, Inc., and the United States of America regarding tax deductions. Direct Supply, a company that assists nursing homes in purchasing equipment, medical supplies, and furniture through a system it calls "Direct Supply DSSI" (DSSI), filed for deductions under §199 of the Internal Revenue Code. This section allowed for deductions based on revenues from the "disposition" of "qualifying production property," which includes software. However, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) disallowed these deductions, prompting Direct Supply to sue for a refund.
Direct Supply argued that DSSI is the "disposition" of the software that runs the system. However, the IRS and the district court viewed DSSI as a service based on software, not a disposition of software. The court noted that Direct Supply's customers did not possess the software code or a license to use any of DSSI’s software. Furthermore, the majority of the revenue flowing to Direct Supply came from fees that were a percentage of the vendors' sales, rather than anything that measured the value of software.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed with the district court and the IRS. The court noted that while DSSI depended on software, it did not "dispose" of that software. The court also pointed out that Direct Supply's receipts were not "directly derived" from the software, as required by the governing regulation, but were instead derived from the goods the vendors sold to the customers. The court affirmed the district court's decision that Direct Supply's deductions under §199 of the Internal Revenue Code were correctly disallowed.
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