Claim for Refund

Claim by a taxpayer to the Internal Revenue Service for a refund of all or part of the taxes paid in earlier years. Such a claim can result from the correction of an error or the availability of a loss or credit that can be carried back and used to reduce the tax liability of a prior year.

The procedure by which a taxpayer informs the Internal Revenue Service in writing of his view that he is entitled to a refund of all or part of the taxes paid by him in earlier years. A claim is subject to statutes of limitation, and the filing of a timely claim is a necessary prerequisite to any allowance of a refund by the Service or of any suit by the taxpayer against the Service for the disallowance of the claimed refund.