Opinion ID: 688440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rakosi's Eligibility for Refund of her Overpaid 1983 Taxes

Text: 5 We will review de novo the Tax Court's interpretation of the Tax Code.. Williamson v. Commissioner, 974 F.2d 1525, 1529 (9th Cir. 1992). Section 6511(a) of the Tax Code sets up a threshold requirement that a taxpayer must meet to qualify for any refund of past tax overpayments. The section provides that 6 [c]laim for [] refund of an overpayment of [] tax [where] the taxpayer is required to file a return shall be filed by the taxpayer within 3 years from the time the return was filed [], or if no return was filed by the taxpayer, within 2 years from the time the tax was paid.... 7 Mrs. Rakosi failed to prove that she ever filed her return for the 1983 tax year. She made no claim for refund of those overpayments until July of 1988, more than four years after they were paid. Under the threshold test of section 6511(a), she is ineligible for any refund of overpayments for that year. See Miller v. United States, 38 F.3d 473, 475 (9th Cir. 1994). We need not reach the look-back analysis of section 6511(b). We affirm the Tax Court's finding that section 6511 bars as untimely any refund for the 1983 tax year. 8