appealing refund statute of limitations

After a long period of "recovery" I finally submitted my overdue returns in January. Eight years worth! In each of those 8 years I was overpaid between withheld and estimated taxes paid in. Plus I had a carry forward from my last filing (1997). As expected I'm getting notified that I will get no refunds from any but the last three years due to a statute of limitations on refunds. The amount that I'm not scheduled to receive is very substantial, worth fighting for. Has anyone ideas or recommendations for arguments I might make to justify relaxing their policy? Thanks,

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Reply to
Jon LaBadie
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I know of no way out on this one. It's the law.

But why did you wait so long to file? If you were working, you would have known you had the duty to file. ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

Reply to
Harlan Lunsford

Amazing that the same statute of limitations does not apply for deliquent tax payers. I ran into the same thing on a property that was over taxed due to a square footage error by the City. They took money for 10 years but would only give back 3!

-- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

Reply to
**THE-RFI-EMI-GUY**

3 yrs means 3 yrs

ahem, let me clarify & say it again ...

3 yrs means 3 yrs

no matter how much time & money you spend chasing it...

3yrs means 3yrs

sorry, but you should have filed sooner

___________________________________

-----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx

Reply to
Benjamin Yazersky CPA

Refund statutes, like other statutes, are not merely matters of discretionary policy. Your refunds for tax years ending prior to December 31, 2003, have been denied because IRS, by law, is not authorized to refund or credit an overpayment when the return is filed more than three years following the original or properly extended due date. Section 3202 of The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of

1998 (P.L. 105-206), usually referred to as RRA '98, added Internal Revenue Code section 6511(h) which permits IRS to waive the three-year refund statute in cases of "financial disability." Revenue Procedure 99-21 (linked below) explains how to request a waiver of the refund statute based on financial disability. Establishing financial disability is your only recourse for getting the disallowances reversed.
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Before you start working on your financial disability waiver request, you may want to be aware of Congress' intent when they enacted § 6511(h). On February 18, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the refund claimed on the late-filed origin return (filed more than three years after the due date) filed by Marian Brockamp for her deceased father, Stanley McGill, was statute-barred. Mr. McGill was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease for several years preceding his death and had not been lucid enough to deal with his financial affairs. Although it seemed patently unfair to disallow the refund given the circumstances, the Supremes ruled that the statute was binding and it was up to Congress to legislate exceptions. And that is exactly what Congress did the following year when they enacted § 3202 of RRA '98. In the joint committee report to RRA '98, Congress expressly indicated that they intended the financial disability waiver provision to apply in situations involving egregious circumstances like those presented in the Brockamp case. If you think that your eight-year filing hiatus rises to the financial disability standard required in order to invoke a § 6511(h) exception to the three-year refund statute, then you should submit your waiver request in accordance with Rev. Proc. 99-21. Frederick Lorca
Reply to
Frederick Lorca

Yet another example of Congress attacking an ant with a nuke. This kind of situation is why they have private bills. Anyone remember the ridiculous and short-lived requirement in the 1970's for IRS to keep a duplicate index of liens after one recording office messed up one recording and one innocent purchaser was harmed? Millions of tax dollars spent to accomplish nothing helpful.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Reply to
Phil Marti

See Section 6511(h) for how to apply that the statute be waived. Here it is: (h) Running Of Periods Of Limitation Suspended While Taxpayer Is Unable To Manage Financial Affairs Due To Disability. -- (1) In General. -- In the case of an individual, the running of the periods specified in subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall be suspended during any period of such individual's life that such individual is financially disabled. (2) Financially Disabled. -- (A) In General. -- For purposes of paragraph (1), an individual is financially disabled if such individual is unable to manage his financial affairs by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment of the individual which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. An individual shall not be considered to have such an impairment unless proof of the existence thereof is furnished in such form and manner as the Secretary may require. (B) Exception Where Individual Has Guardian, Etc. -- An individual shall not be treated as financially disabled during any period that such individual's spouse or any other person is authorized to act on behalf of such individual in financial matters. ------ Also see Publication 556 and Rev. Proc. 99-21. In my opinion Rev. Proc. 99-21 has more compete information than the publication.

-- Drew Edmundson, CPA Cary, NC

Reply to
Drew Edmundson

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