Necessarily, it must be general in nature and it is not intended to be applied to any particular factual situation. Consult with a competent professional before taking a position on any facet of a tax controversy. Any reliance on the information contained herein is taken at the reader's own risk. A suit against the United States regarding taxes is in many respects a different type of lawsuit than one involving private parties, or even the government in a non-tax dispute. In ruling that the time limits for filing a refund claim are not subject to judicially created exceptions, the Supreme Court's February decision brought home that lesson emphatically.
Most taxpayers claim any tax refund at the time the return is filed.
Yet sometimes when a return is filed and a tax paid, the return overstates the amount of tax due. Just as the IRS has the right to audit returns and receive payment for underpaid tax, so, too, do taxpayers have the right to file a claim for refund for tax which is overpaid. And if the IRS does not allow the taxpayer's claim, the taxpayer is allowed to sue in federal court for the refund. Section 6511 of Internal Revenue Code prescribes the statute of limitations for the filing of refund claims. In general, the statute says that the deadline for filing refund claims is three years from the date of the filing of the return or two years from the date of payment, whichever is later.