Tax Type
Individual Income Tax
Description
Filing an amended return; Extended filing date
Topic
Returns and Payments
Date Issued
09-05-1997
September 5, 1997
Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Individual Income Tax
Dear*****************
This will respond to your letter of July 15, 1997, in which you contest the disallowance of an overpayment credit denied on the 1990 Virginia individual income tax return of ******** (the "Taxpayers").
FACTS
The Taxpayers timely filed their 1989 Virginia return in February, 1990. In April, 1990, Form 760-E was filed for 1989 accompanied by a payment of ***** in anticipation that the original return would be amended. The amended return was filed in October, 1993, requesting that an overpayment for 1989 be applied to 1990. This was denied by the department because the Taxpayers' amended return was not timely filed. You contest the department's determination and believe that the Form 760-E filed for 1989 allows the Taxpayers until November 1, 1993, three years and six months after the due date of the original return, to file an amended return.
DETERMINATION
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- Code of Virginia § 58.1-344(A) provides in pertinent part:
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- Whenever any individual or fiduciary has been allowed or granted an extension or extensions of time within which to file any federal income tax return for any taxable year, the due date for filing of the income tax return required under this chapter shall be extended to the date six months after such due date or fifteen days after the extended date for filing the federal income tax return, whichever is earlier....
In order for the Taxpayers to gain a valid extension, Form 760-E must be filed on or before the original due date for the filing of such return and pay the full amount of the estimated balance of tax due. The Code of Virginia makes no provision for an extension of time once such return has been filed, consequently, the extension filed by the Taxpayers was not a valid extension.
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- Code of Virginia § 58.1-499 provides in pertinent part that:
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- [N]o 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 described by law for the timely filing of the return. (Emphasis added).
The original due date for the income tax return for the taxable year 1989 was May 1, 1990. Therefore, in order for the overpayment to be claimed on the 1990 return, the amended return for 1989 would have been required to have been filed by May 1, 1993.
Based on the foregoing, the Taxpayers' amended 1989 income tax return was not filed within the statute of limitations period for obtaining a refund (or consequently, the optional credit against the ensuing year's estimated tax). While I sympathize with the Taxpayers' situation, the statute of limitations precludes the department from allowing the overpayment to be used as a credit on the Taxpayers' 1990 income tax return. The balance due, ****should be paid within the next 30 days to avoid the accrual of additional interest. Please send your payment to ****** , Office of Tax Policy, Post Office Box 1880, Richmond, Virginia 23218-1880.
Sincerely,
Danny M. Payne
Tax Commissioner
OTP/12758P
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner