Refund Litigation (Portfolio 631)

Description

Bloomberg Tax Portfolio, Refund Litigation, No. 631, analyzes the process of filing and litigating a refund suit in a federal district court or the Court of Federal Claims. When a taxpayer decides to contest a proposed deficiency with respect to income, estate or gift taxes, or certain excise taxes, he can file a petition in the Tax Court or pay the tax and sue for a refund in a federal district court or the Court of Federal Claims.

If the taxpayer elects the refund route, he must pay all of the tax assessed pursuant to the notice of deficiency and file a refund claim. The claim must be filed within three years of the date the return was filed or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later. A suit on the claim may not be instituted before six months from the date the claim was filed (unless the IRS renders a decision on the claim at some earlier date) or after two years following the mailing of a notice of disallowance, although this period may be extended by agreement.

This Portfolio considers the problems that arise in instituting and prosecuting a refund suit, from filing the refund claim through the satisfaction of a favorable judgment. The pertinent jurisdictional and procedural rules in both the federal district courts and the Court of Federal Claims are also discussed.

For a discussion of examination and appeals procedures for refund claims, see 623 T.M., IRS Procedures: Examinations and Appeals. For a discussion of the special rules applicable to refund claims involving partnership items, see 624T.M., Audit Procedures for Pass-Through Entities.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Evolution of the Tax Refund Suit
III. Jurisdictional Prerequisites
IV. Choice of Forum
V. Procedural Doctrines
VI. Initiation of a Refund Suit
VII. Pretrial Procedure
VIII. Summary Judgment Practice
IX. Settlement
X. Trials
XI. Judgments, Costs, and Fees
XII. Initiating an Appeal
XIII. Satisfaction of Judgments Against the Government