Rev. Rul. 75-344

Advice has been requested as to when the 45-day interest free period provided by section 6611(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 begins when the due date of the return on which an overpayment is shown falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

An individual taxpayer, a resident of the State of Massachusetts, files his federal income tax return on a calendar year basis. The taxpayer filed his return for 1972 on Tuesday, April 17, 1973 at the Andover, Massachusetts Internal Revenue Service Center. The return was considered timely filed under the provision of section 7503 of the Code because April 15, 1973, fell on a Sunday and April 16, 1973, was a legal holiday, Patriots' Day, in the State of Massachusetts. The Service refunded the overpayment shown on the return on June 1, 1973.

The question presented is whether interest is due on the overpayment refunded on June 1, 1973, which was 45 days after the date the return was filed, but 47 days after the last date prescribed for filing the return.

Section 6611(e) of the Code provides that no interest will be paid if a refund is made within 45 days after the last date prescribed for filing the return (determined without regard to any extension of time for filing the return) or, if the return is filed after such last date, the refund is made within 45 days after the return is filed.

Section 7503 of the Code provides that if the last date prescribed under authority of the internal revenue laws for performing any act falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, such act will be considered timely if performed on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

The purpose of section 7503 of the Code is to extend the time for filing a document when the last day for filing would be a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Section 7503 does not change the date prescribed for performing an act, nor does it provide that an act performed on the day following a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday will be deemed to have been performed on the actual due date.

Accordingly, the 45-day interest free period under section 6611(e) begins the day after the date a calendar year return filed after April 15 is filed. In this case the 45-day interest free period began on April 18, 1973, the day after the date the taxpayer filed his return. The refund was made on June 1, 1973, the 45th day after filing, and therefore no interest is due on the refund.

Had the taxpayer filed his return on or before April 15, 1973, the 45-day interest free period would have begun on April 16, 1973, the day after the prescribed date for filing the return, and would have ended on May 30, 1973, notwithstanding the fact that April 15 fell on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

This case is distinguishable from the one described in Rev. Rul. 66-118, 1966-1 C.B. 290. In that Revenue Ruling the taxpayer filed his individual income tax return for 1958 on or before April 15, 1959. The amount of the tax withheld exceeded the tax liability shown on the return and a refund was issued on the initial processing of the return. No other action was taken by the Internal Revenue Service with respect to the taxpayer's return for 1958. He filed a claim for refund for the year 1958 on Monday, April 16, 1962. Rev. Rul. 66-118 holds that the claim for refund was timely, having been filed within the 3-year period set forth in section 6511(a) of the Code pursuant to section 7503.

However, Rev. Rul. 66-118 points out that section 6511(b)(2)(A) of the Code limits the amount refundable to that which was paid within the 3-year period immediately preceding the date of the filing of the refund claim. Under the circumstances in Rev. Rul. 66-118, the amounts withheld from the taxpayer's salary were deemed to have been paid on April 15, 1959. Rather than nullify the full effectiveness of the section 7503 timely filed refund claim result above because of the section 6511(b)(2)(A) 3-year payment limitation, Rev. Rul. 66-118 holds that the Service will deem the filing of the refund claim to have occurred for purposes of section 6511(b) on April 15, 1962, so that section 6511(b) does not serve to restrict the amount refundable.

Rev. Rul. 66-118, as stated therein, is expressly limited to issues involving both sections 6511(b) and 7503.

Rev. Rul. 66-118 is distinguished.