Opinion ID: 814753
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Group’s Claims

Text: The district court properly dismissed the Group’s refund claims. The Group apparently does not challenge this conclusion on appeal. Before a plaintiff can bring suit in district court, it must file “a claim for refund or credit . . . with the [IRS].” I.R.C. § 7422(a). There are time limits on filing an administrative claim, however. Any “[c]laim for credit or refund of an overpayment . . . shall be filed by the taxpayer within 3 years from the time the return was filed or 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever of such periods expires later.” I.R.C. § 6511(a). In addition to the administrative remedies requirement, a refund suit is limited to overpayment, I.R.C. § 6402(a), which is payment in excess of what is due. Jones v. Liberty Glass Co., 332 U.S. 524, 531 (1947). 16 No. 09-3380 The Group’s refund claims are time-barred. The Group made voluntary payments in February, May, and June 2002, which were applied to outstanding taxes for 2000, 2001, and 2002. The Group filed its administrative refund claim on July 1, 2005—over three years after the returns and two years after payment. Thus, the Group’s claims do not meet the requirements of the statute. Moreover, refund claims are limited to overpayment, and the Group does not allege it paid more than it owed. The Group’s situation is analogous to Schon v. United States, where we held that a company’s assertion that the IRS should have applied its payments to another liability does not constitute overpayment when it admits that it still owes taxes to the IRS. 759 F.2d 614, 617 (7th Cir. 1985). Further, the Group appears to seek a declaratory judgment that the IRS should have allocated the taxes to the trust fund portion. However, the Declaratory Judgment Act bars relief “with respect to federal taxes.” 28 U.S.C. 2201; Schon, 759 F.2d at 617-18. We affirm the district court’s dismissal of these claims.