Case Name: LYETH v. HOEY, Collector of Internal Revenue
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1940-03-18
Citations: 112 F.2d 4
Docket Number: No. 142
Parties: LYETH v. HOEY, Collector of Internal Revenue.
Judges: 
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 112
Pages: 4–10

Head Matter:
LYETH v. HOEY, Collector of Internal Revenue.
No. 142.
Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
March 18, 1940.
CLARK, Circuit Judge, dissenting.
John T. Cahill, U. S. Atty., of New York City (George B. Schoonmaker, Asst. U. S. Atty., of New York City, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.
Maclay, Lyeth & Williams, of New York City (J. M. Richardson Lyeth, Allin H. Pierce, and Donald M. Harris, all of New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff-appel-lee.
, Before SWAN, AUGUSTUS N. HAND, and CLARK, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
AUGUSTUS N. HAND, Circuit Judge.
This action was brought to recover an overpayment of income taxes for the year 1933 and interest, amounting to $65,030.87, out of which the defendant seeks recoupment of an estate tax deficiency of $54,-976.47, recovery of which is barred by the statute of limitations.
An income ¡tax deficiency for the year 1933 was assessed against the plaintiff and the tax was paid to the Collector. The assessment was illegal because the property received on which the deficiency was based was exempt from taxation as income inasmuch as it was not income but an inheritance of the plaintiff from the estate of his grandmother Mary B. Longyear. Lyeth v. Hoey, 305 U.S. 188, 59 S.Ct. 155, 83 L.Ed. 119, 119 A.L.R. 410. The Collector objects to refunding the full amount of the overpayment of income taxes on the ground that when it was made on October 16, 1936, there was due from the executors of the will of Mary B. Longyear, and also from the plaintiff as transferee and distributee of her estate, an additional estate tax of $43,275.67 which, with interest then accrued, amounted to $54,976.47. The Collector accordingly insists that the plaintiff's recovery should be limited to $10,054.40, which is the difference between the claim of $65,030.87 and the unpaid estate taxes and interest amounting to $54,976.47.
On December 20, 1938, the Commissioner made a determination that there was a deficiency in'estate taxes from the executors of the will of Mary B. Longyear and from the plaintiff.as a transferee of the estate, and the Collector claims the right to recoup this deficiency against the plaintiff's overpayment of income taxes. The period of limitation for the assessment of estate taxes against the executors of Mary B. Longyear, or for the commencement of any proceeding for the collection of such taxes from them, expired November 22, 1935. Section 310(a), Revenue Act of 1926, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 248. The additional year for a proceeding against a transferee by' assessment or suit expired November 22, 1936. Section 316(b) (1), 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 254.
The plaintiff filed his claim for refund on November 4, 1936, and brought this action to recover the overpayment of income taxes assessed against him on October 4, 1938. The answer setting up the claim of the Collector for recoupment was interposed in January 1939. Upon a motion for summary judgment the District Court held that under the decision of the Supreme Court in McEachern v. Rose, 302 U.S. 56, 58 S.Ct. 84, 82 L.Ed. 46, Sections 607 and 609(a) of the Revenue Act of 1928 prohibited the government "from crediting the amount of any tax overpayment against a barred deficiency." [27 F.Supp. 9, 10.] These sections read as follows:
Section 607 (45 Stat. 874, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 459: "Any tax (or any interest, penalty, additional amount, or addition to such tax) assessed or paid (whether before or after the enactment of this Act) after the expiration of the period of limitation properly applicable thereto shall be considered an overpayment and shall be credited or refunded to the taxpayer if claim therefor is filed within the period of limitation for filing such claim."
Section 609(a), 45 Stat. 875, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 460: "Any credit against a liability in respect of any taxable year shall be void if any payment in respect of such liability would be considered an overpayment under section 607 [1670]."
Thp government argues that Section 609(a) only prevents it from taking a credit against a liability of a taxpayer for income, war-profits or excess-profits taxes and not for estate taxes, since the section in terms refers to "a credit against a liability for any taxable year", and estate taxes are not payable annually. The argument is not convincing, first because an estate tax is a liability "in respect of [the] taxable year" in which it becomes due; second, because, when section 609(a) invalidates a credit against a tax liability it precludes such a credit whenever any payment in respect to it would be considered an overpayment under section 607, and section 607 declares that "any tax assessed or paid after the expiration of the period of limitation properly applicable thereto shall be considered an overpayment." If a payment of the amount of estate taxes due here had been made after the expiration of the period of limitation it would be considered an overpayment under section 607; and because of the provisions of section 609(a) the taxpayer's claim to income taxes unlawfully collected could not be credited against the government's claim for such estate taxes. In other words, the "liability" against which a credit is made void by section 609(a) is a liability for "any, tax" which includes a "liability" for an estate tax. Accordingly, while the Supreme Court in McEachern v. Rose, 302 U.S. 56, 62, 58 S.Ct. 84, 82 L.Ed. 46, denied a credit of income taxes "barred by limitation", it suggested no distinction between such taxes and other barred taxes and the language of section 607 is too broadly comprehensive to validate such a credit against the estate tax liabil ity of the taxpayer in the case at bar. Recoupment of a barred claim was allowed in Stone v. White, 301 U.S. 532, 57 S.Ct. 851, 81 L.Ed. 1265, but the court distinguished that decision in McEachern v. Rose, supra, on the ground that in Stone v. White a credit could not have been taken either under sections 607 or 609(a), or under section 322 of the Act of 1932, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev. Acts, page 571, for the reason that rights of different taxpayers were there involved. As the case did not fall within sections 607 and 609(a) the court was free to apply the general equitable doctrine of recoupment.
Section 608 of the Act of 1928, 45 Stat. 874, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 459, so far as here material, reads as follows:
"A refund of any portion of an internal-revenue tax (or any interest, penalty, additional amount, or addition to such tax) made after the enactment of this Act, shall be considered erroneous— •
"(a) If made after the expiration of the period of limitation for filing claim therefor, unless within such period claim was filed; or
"(b) In the case of a claim filed within the proper time and disallowed by the Commissioner after the enactment of this Act, if the refund was made after the expiration of the period of limitation for filing a suit, unless—
"(1) Within such period suit was begun by the taxpayer, or
"(2) Within such period, the taxpayer and the Commissioner agreed in writing to suspend the running of the statute of limitations for filing suit
Section 609(b), 45 Stat. 875, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 460, provides that: "A credit of an overpayment in respect of any tax shall be void if a refund of such overpayment would be considered erroneous under section 608 [1674]."
It is evident that the foregoing provisions are complementary to those of sections 607 and 609(a) which have already been referred to. Section 609(a) prevents the government from crediting barred taxes upon the claim of a taxpayer for overpayment of any tax and section 609(b) in like manner protects the government against a credit of a claim for barred taxes of any kind.
A comparison of these sections affords a reason in addition to that arising from the words "any tax" found in section 607 for regarding the clause "in respect to any taxable year" found in section 609 (a) as involving no limitation to taxes of a particular class. Section 609(b) clearly prohibits a credit to the taxpayer against any tax liability where his claim is barred, and the prohibition is laid without regard to any "taxable year". It cannot be supposed that section 609(a) invalidates credits of barred claims upon liabilities for income, war-profits and excess-profits taxes only, while section 609(b) invalidates such credits upon liabilities for all taxes.
A further reason arged by the government for holding section 609(a) inapplicable is that the word "credit" as used in that section does not refer to this type of case. Section 322(a) of the Revenue Act of 1928, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Acts, page 436, reads: "Where there has been an overpayment of any tax imposed by this title [chapter], the amount of such overpayment shall be credited against any income, war-profits, or excess-profits tax or installment thereof then due from the taxpayer, and any balance shall be refunded immediately to the taxpayer."
The government argues that since section 322 permits crediting of overpayments against "income, war-profits, or excess profits tax", no other type of "crediting" is allowed; that the Commissioner cannot credit against an estate tax liability; that, therefore, sections 607 and 609(a) are inapplicable; and that if they are inapplicable recoupment may be allowed under the doctrine of Stone v. White, 301 U.S. 532, 57 S.Ct. 851, 81 L.Ed. 1265. But, as pointed out above, the Supreme Court declared in McEachern v. Rose that recoupment was allowed in Stone v. White because the rights of different taxpayers were involved and the Commissioner could not credit the overpayment of one against the liability of the other.
But there is little reason to limit the scope of the word "credit" as used in sections 607 and 609(a) to an ability to credit against liabilities for income, war-profits or excess profits taxes only. Indeed, the government brief declares that the implied authority to credit overpayments against any liabilities "is in line with the general policy declared by the tax laws that when a taxpayer files a claim for refund of an overpayment he shall recover only to the extent that the overpayment exceeds the amount of taxes then due from him." Should the narrow interpretation be put on "credit", the Commissioner would have no administrative means of setting off an estate tax overpayment against an estate tax liability unless there were resort to the Board of Tax Appeals by the taxpayer. 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Code, § 910-912. The broad language not only of sections 607 and 609(a), which prohibit credits in favor of the government, but of sections 608 and 609(b), which prohibit credits in favor of the taxpayer, would thus have an unwarrantedly restricted meaning. Any argument that the Commissioner may not credit here because different types of taxes are involved must rest on an implied prohibition read into the terms of section 322(a). Any such prohibition must necessarily include an invalidation of the Commissioner's power to credit, for example, gift tax overpayments against gift tax liabilities, even where there is no bar of the statute of limitations. It seems clear that the crediting clause of section 322(a) was not intended to be exhaustive but only descriptive of particular instances in which credits are proper. To treat it otherwise is .to restrict the broad language of section 609(a) and its related sections unduly and to confine in a surprising way the right of credit, even where the statute of limitations is not a bar.
The government argues, however, that if the Commissioner has the power to "credit", he should be allowed to .credit here because the right to recover the estate taxes as against the executors was not barred by limitation on November 4, 1936, when the claim for refund of the overpayment of income taxes was filed, and was not barred against the plaintiff as transferee until November 22, 1936. But when the action to recover the overpayment was begun, the claim for. estate taxes had become barred and the situation existing when the claim for refund was filed had then ceased to have any importance. The government's contention that it had importance is based upon the statement in McEachern v. Rose, 302 U.S, 56, 62, 58 S. Ct. 84, 87, 82 L.Ed. 46, that: "The date of the claim for refund and the date of the allowance of the credit came after recovery of the 1928 tax was barred." This statement was in no sense a holding that the situation existing at the time of the filing of the claim for refund is determinative of the right to recoupment. Though an action • to recover an overpayment is conditioned upon the filing of such a claim, the action itself is the real assertion of the taxpayer's right growing out of the overpayment. Section 322(a) of the Act of 1928 provides that where an overpayment of taxes has been made any balance, after crediting it against any income, war-profits or excess profits taxes due from the taxpayer "shall be refunded immediately to the taxpayer". This does not mean to define the time at which setoffs are to be allowed or to prescribe that taxes enforcible at the time the claim for refund was filed but barred when the action to recover the overpayment was brought are kept alive for purposes of setoff.
It is to be further observed that there could be no credit against the overpayment of income taxes until that overpayment was ascertained or allowed. Mc-Eachern v. Rose, 302 U.S. at page 61, 58 S. Ct. 84, 82 L.Ed. 46. No ascertainment was had in the present case until after the decision of the Supreme Court dealing with the effect upon tax liabilities of the settlement of the contest over Mrs. Longyear's will. That decision, reported in Lyeth v. Hoey, 305 U.S. 188, 59 S.Ct. 155, 83 L.Ed. 119, 119 A.L.R. 410, was made long after the right to collect estate taxes had expired on any theory.
The defendant's right of recoupment or credit is precluded by statute and the plaintiff is entitled to recover the amount of his overpayment without abatement.
Judgment affirmed.
CLARK, Circuit Judge, dissents with opinion.