McEachern v. Rose, 302 U.S. 56 (1937)
McEachern v. Rose
No. 6
Argued October 14, 15, 1937
Decided November 8, 1937
302 U.S. 56
CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
1. Sections 607 and 609(a) of the Revenue Act of 1928 require the Government to return the amount of a tax paid after it has been barred by limitation and preclude it from taking any benefit from a taxpayer’s overpayment by crediting it against an unpaid tax the collection of which has been barred by limitation. P. 59.
2. There can be no credit of an overpayment against an earlier unpaid tax until the former has been ascertained and allowed. P. 61.
3. Sections 322 and 609 of the Revenue Act of 1928 both contemplate that the time of credit of an overpayment in one year against a tax for another is to be marked by some definite administrative action, and, under § 1104 of the Revenue Act of 1932, that action occurs when the Commissioner of Internal Revenue first signs the schedule of overassessments. P. 61.
Where this occurs after the earlier tax has been barred, credit against it of the overassessment is prohibited by § 609 of the Act of 1928.
4. The similar treatment accorded by the statutes to credit against an overdue tax and to payment of it, the prohibition of credit of an overpayment of one year against a barred deficiency for another, and the requirement that payment of a barred deficiency be refunded are controlling evidences of the Congressional purpose, by the enactment of §§ 607 and 609, to require refund to the taxpayer of an overpayment, even though he has failed to pay taxes for other periods, whenever their collection is barred by limitation. P. 62.
5. Stone v. White, 301 U.S. 532, distinguished. P. 62.
86 F.2d 231 reversed.
Certiorari, 300 U.S. 652, to review a judgment reversing a tax recovery secured by the petitioner in the District Court in an action against the Collector.