Source: http://web.openjurist.org/371/f3d/1350/williams-russell-johnson-inc-v-united-states
Timestamp: 2018-02-18 19:48:51
Document Index: 606506338

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6501', '§ 6401', '§ 6401', '§ 6513', '§ 6501', '§ 6511', '§ 6401']

371 F3d 1350 Williams-Russell Johnson Inc v. United States | OpenJurist
371 F. 3d 1350 - Williams-Russell Johnson Inc v. United States
371 F3d 1350 Williams-Russell Johnson Inc v. United States
371 F.3d 1350
WILLIAMS-RUSSELL & JOHNSON, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant,
No. 03-13868.
In fact, it did not assess liability for those years until 6/99. It concedes, then, that those 1993-1995 assessments were made beyond 26 U.S.C. § 6501's three-year statute of limitations period for collection and assessment.1 So, the IRS admits, it cannot collect any additional employment taxes from WRJ even though WRJ had, in fact, underpaid its taxes for the subject years. See Ewing v. United States, 914 F.2d 499, 503-04 (4th Cir.1990).
We review de novo subject-matter jurisdiction dismissals such as that which occurred here. Broward Gardens Tenants Assoc. v. United States Env't Protection Agency, 311 F.3d 1066, 1072 (11th Cir.2002); Ochran v. United States, 273 F.3d 1315, 1317 (11th Cir.2001).
While this is a first impression question for our circuit, others have consistently answered it in the negative. See Ewing, 914 F.2d at 500-04 (4th Cir.1990); Moran v. United States, 63 F.3d 663, 666 (7th Cir.1995), overruled in part by Malachinski v. Comm'r, 268 F.3d 497 (7th Cir.2001); Crompton & Knowles Loom Works v. White, 65 F.2d 132, 133-34 (1st Cir.1933) (interpreting § 6401's predecessor statute). We join those circuits by holding that, notwithstanding § 6401(a)'s language, an untimely assessment of taxes otherwise properly owed and paid within the statutory period for assessment and collection does not create an "overpayment" entitling the "late-assessed" taxpayer to a refund.
Under the principles established in Lewis v. Reynolds, 284 U.S. 281, 282, 52 S.Ct. 145, 76 L.Ed. 293 (1932), "a taxpayer's claim for refund must be reduced by the amount of the correct tax liability for the taxable year, regardless of the fact that the Commissioner can no longer assess any deficiency for the taxable year." Bachner v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue, 109 T.C. 125, 130, 1997 WL 589910 (1997), aff'd, 172 F.3d 859 (3rd Cir.1998) (Table). To accept WRJ's proposition — that it can recover undisputably owed taxes that have already been rightly and timely paid — would directly fly in the face of that tax jurisprudence.
26 U.S.C. § 6513(c)(1) provides that any return filed before 4/15 shall be considered as filed on 4/15. Accordingly, the last of WRJ's returns was "filed" on 4/15/96. Under § 6501, then, the IRS had until 4/15/99 to assess taxes for 1995, and one and two years earlier, respectively for 1994 and 1993
We otherwise would find little merit to that argument. WRJ would have us equate the phrase "from the time the tax as paid" in § 6511(a) to § 6401(a)'s time of assessment or collection. A similar argument, however, was rejected inUnited States v. Dalm, 494 U.S. 596, 609 n. 7, 110 S.Ct. 1361, 108 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990) (the limitations clock runs from when a tax payment is tendered, not when it is determined that the tax is owed, i.e., assessed). Indeed,
Id. at 609-10 n. 7, 110 S.Ct. 1361.