Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/528/431/index.php
Timestamp: 2019-05-25 17:41:19
Document Index: 287845497

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6511', '§ 6511', '§ 6511', '§ 6511', '§ 6151', '§ 6511', '§ 6511', '§ 6513']

BARAL v. UNITED STATES - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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BARAL v. UNITED STATES
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No. 98-1667. Argued January 18, 2000-Decided February 22, 2000
Two remittances were made to the Internal Revenue Service toward petitioner BaraI's income tax liability for the 1988 tax year: a withholding of $4,104 from BaraI's wages throughout 1988 by his employer, and an estimated income tax of $1,100 remitted in January 1989 by Baral. BaraI's income tax return for 1988 was due on April 15, 1989. Though he received an extension until August 15, he missed this deadline and did not file the return until June 1, 1993. On the return, he claimed a $1,175 overpayment and asked the Service to apply this excess as a credit toward his outstanding tax obligations for the 1989 tax year. The Service denied the requested credit, concluding that the claim exceeded the ceiling imposed by 26 U. S. C. § 6511(b)(2)(A), which states that "the amount of the credit or refund shall not exceed the portion of the tax paid within the period, immediately preceding the filing of the claim, equal to 3 years plus the period of any extension of time for filing the return." Since Baral filed his return on June 1, 1993, and received a 4-month extension from the initial due date, the relevant look-back period under § 6511(b)(2)(A) extended from June 1, 1993, back to February 1, 1990 (i. e., three years plus four months). According to the Service, Baral had paid no portion of the overpaid tax during that period, and so faced a ceiling of zero on any allowable refund or credit. Baral commenced this suit for refund in the Federal District Court, which granted the Service summary judgment. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that both remittances were "paid" on April 15, 1989.
Held: Remittances of estimated income tax and withholding tax are "paid" on the due date of a calendar year taxpayer's income tax return. Sections 6513(b)(1) and (2) unequivocally provide that the two remittances were "paid" on April 15, 1989, for purposes of § 6511(b)(2)(A), so that they precede the look-back period, which began on February 1, 1990. Subsection (1) resolves when the remittance of BaraI's employer's withholding tax was "paid," and subsection (2) determines when his remittance of estimated income tax was "paid." Because neither these remittances nor any others were "paid" within the look-back period, the ceiling on BaraI's requested $1,175 credit is zero, and the Service was correct to deny that credit. Contrary to BaraI's claim, the withholding tax and estimated tax are not taxes in their own right (separate fromcralaw
the income tax), that are converted into income tax only on the income tax return. Rather, they are methods for collecting income taxes. And the Tax Code directly contradicts Baral's notion that income tax is "paid" under § 6511(b)(2)(A) only when the income tax is assessed. See § 6151(a). His position also finds no support in Rosenman v. United States, 323 U. S. 658, and would work to the detriment of timely taxpayers, who would be denied interest for the time between filing a return claiming a refund or credit and the Service's assessment. Pp. 434-439.
172 F.3d 918, affirmed.
Walter J. Rockler argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Julius Greisman and Thomas Klein.
With him on the brief were Solicitor General Waxman, Assistant Attorney General Argrett, Deputy Solicitor General Wallace, Gilbert S. Rothenberg, and Charles Bricken.
JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court. Internal Revenue Code § 6511(b)(2)(A) imposes a ceiling on the amount of credit or refund to which a taxpayer is entitled as compensation for an overpayment of tax: "[T]he amount of the credit or refund shall not exceed the portion of the tax paid within the period, immediately preceding the filing of the claim, equal to 3 years plus the period of any extension of time for filing the return." 26 U. S. C. § 6511(b)(2)(A). We are called upon in this case to decide when two types of remittance are "paid" for purposes of this section: a remittance by a taxpayer of estimated income tax, and a remittance by a taxpayer's employer of withholding tax. The plain language of a nearby Code section, § 6513(b), provides the answer: These remittances are "paid" on the due date of the taxpayer's income tax return.
The relevant facts are not disputed. Two remittances were made to the Internal Revenue Service toward peti-cralaw