Tax Type
Individual Income Tax
Description
Refund of tax; Statute of limitations
Topic
Accounting Periods and Methods
Statute of Limitations
Date Issued
04-28-1995
April 28, 1995
Re: §58.1-1821 Application: Individual income taxes
Dear**************
This will reply to your letter of March 17, 1995, regarding the 1989 joint individual income tax return of *********** (the "Taxpayers").
FACTS
The Taxpayers filed their 1989 Virginia income tax return with the department on May 3, 1994. The! return reflected a refund, which was denied by the department as the refund request was outside the statute of limitations. You contest this determination, and believe that the return was in fact filed on a timely basis in 1990.
DETERMINATION
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- Code of Virginia §58.1499 provides, in pertinent part:
In the case of any overpayment of any tax, ... whether by reason of excessive withholding, overestimating and overpaying estimated tax, error on the part of the taxpayer, ... the Tax Commissioner shall order a refund of the amount of the overpayment to the taxpayer.
- Code of Virginia §58.1499 provides, in pertinent part:
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- ...nor shall any refund of any amount under this section be made, whether on discovery by the Department or on written application of the taxpayer, if such discovery is not made or such written application is not received within three years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return... (Emphasis added.)
- ...nor shall any refund of any amount under this section be made, whether on discovery by the Department or on written application of the taxpayer, if such discovery is not made or such written application is not received within three years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return... (Emphasis added.)
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- In addition, Code of Virginia § 58.1-1823 provides, in pertinent part:
Any person filing a tax return required for any tax administered by the Department of Taxation may file an amended return with the Department (i) within three years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return... If the Department is satisfied, by evidence submitted to it or otherwise, that the tax assessed and paid upon the original return exceeds the proper amount, the Department may reassess the taxpayer and order that any amount excessively paid be refunded to him. (Emphasis added.)
- In addition, Code of Virginia § 58.1-1823 provides, in pertinent part:
The Taxpayers' claim for a refund of 1989 income taxes was first brought to the department's attention on May 3, 1994, when the Taxpayers filed the return. The department can find no evidence of an earlier filed return for 1989, nor does it appear that the IRS found evidence of a timely filed 1989 federal return. Because the filing was more than three years from the last day prescribed for timely filing the 1989 return, the department does not have the authority to make a refund with respect to an overpayment which may exist for 1989. Unfortunately, the department has no alternative but to deny the Taxpayers' request for a refund.
If, within one year from the date of this letter, you provide the department with clear and objective evidence as to the original date of filing, we will reexamine your claim.
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- Sincerely,
Danny M. Payne
Tax Commissioner
- Sincerely,
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OTP/9486M
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner