Final answer:
A circuit court of appeals is generally not required to follow the opinion of another circuit court on a tax issue, as each circuit court is typically bound by the precedents set within its jurisdiction.
Step-by-step explanation:
A circuit court of appeals does not generally follow the opinion of another circuit court unless there is a situation called an en banc review where all judges in a circuit hear a case together, which is very rare. Typically, a circuit court will only be bound by the precedents set within its geographical jurisdiction.
The opinions of other circuits may be persuasive but are not binding. That being said, if there is an issue on which the circuit courts have conflicting opinions, it might be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court through a grant of certiorari to clarify the law for all circuits.
Courts are expected to follow legal precedents set by superior courts in their jurisdiction, and they are bound by the principles of stare decisis, meaning the decisions of the higher courts have a controlling influence on the decisions of the lower courts in the same jurisdiction. This structural hierarchy ensures that the federal courts operate with consistency across the different levels.