In Giant
Eagle v. Commissioner, No. 14-3961 (3d Cir. 2016), the 3rd
Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the Tax Court's
order denying the taxpayer's fuel rewards program deductions on
the grounds that the deductions were permissible under the all
events test. The 3rd Circuit, in a 2-to-1 decision, found the
liability to be fixed at the time the discount was earned.
The taxpayer, Giant Eagle Inc., operates a chain of retail
supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and convenience stores in
the U.S. The taxpayer established a fuel rewards program in 1991.
The taxpayer's current version of the program, fuelperks!,
links customers' rewards at the gas pump to prior grocery
purchases. For example, for every $50 of groceries purchased, a
cardholder earns a 10- cents-per-gallon discount on gas. The
brochure distributed to customers describing the program indicated
that the discounts expired on the last day of the month, three
months after they are earned, and that
