By: Derek Hawkins//September 6, 2016//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Michael Wu v. United States of America
Case No.: 16-1660
Officials: MANION, ROVNER, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges
Focus: IRS Assessment
Appellants not entitled to a refund for adjusting excess funds in retirement accounts
“As the government has since conceded, it misled the district court about Christine Wu’s claim. Section 6532(a)(1), although entitled “Periods of limitation on suits,” has been interpreted as jurisdictional by several circuits. See Kaffenberger v. United States, 314 F.3d 944, 950–51 (8th Cir. 2003); Ohio Nat’l Life Ins. Co. v. United States, 922 F.2d 320, 324 (6th Cir. 1990); Dalton v. United States, 800 F.2d 1316, 1319 (4th Cir. 1986). But whether or not that characterization is correct, § 6532(a)(1) is irrelevant to the letter received by Christine Wu in July 2010. That communication was prompted by the Wus’ letter of March 2010, which sought “waiver” of a “penalty,” not a “refund” of taxes which had not even been assessed. See 26 C.F.R. § 301.6402–2(b)(1) (defining content of claim for refund); D’Amelio v. United States, 679 F.2d 313, 315 (3d Cir. 1982) (observing that estate had not made a claim for a refund by sending to IRS letters that sought information about tax liability but “did not advise the government that it believed it was entitled to a refund”). And though it is possible to construe a communication from the IRS as waiving the formal requirements for a claim to a refund and disallowing a refund, see Nick’s Cigarette City, Inc. v. United States, 531 F.3d 516, 521 (7th Cir. 2008), the March letter could not have triggered a decision by the IRS because no taxes had been paid or even assessed. So just like her husband, Christine Wu first claimed a refund of the 2009 taxes in February 2012 and then brought this action barely a year after the IRS Appeals Office finally disallowed that claim. Thus, for both Michael and Christine Wu, the question before us is whether their interpretation of § 408(d)(4) is correct.”
Affirmed