WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has delayed the trial date of a Colorado credit union’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the tax agency’s application of “unrelated business income tax” (UBIT).

The change in the trial date, according to CUNA General Counsel Eric Richard, is likely not indicative of the judge’s attitude toward the case.

“We have no reason to believe that the judge's action says anything about how this case is likely to turn out. Courts often reschedule trials just to manage their overall workload. "We anticipate the credit union party to the case will seek a prompt trial date at the appropriate time," Richard said.

The trial date for the case, Bellco CU (of Greenwood Village, Colo.) vs. the United States (IRS), had originally been set for Aug. 31, 2009. On Dec. 22, however, U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello ordered that the date was “vacated.” She did not set a new trial date.

According to CUNA’s Richard, the judge made the ruling without a request from either the credit union or government sides in the case. In the order, Arguello did not give reasons for her action, although she did indicate she would set a new date sometime after a status conference between the two sides in the action set for June 19.

The credit union filed the lawsuit in May the tax agency’s UBIT policies toward credit unions. The complaint seeks a refund of $199,000, based on UBIT taxes paid for 2000, 2001 and 2003.