Rev. Rul. 57-242

A claim filed by a taxpayer pursuant to Revenue Ruling 55-477, C.B. 1955-2, 499, on Form 843, claim, for additional interest on a refund of tax will not protect the taxpayer's rights with respect to the statute of limitations. Since a statutory period of limitations for the allowance and payment of interest on an overpayment of tax is not provided for in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (nor in the 1939 Code), it is necessary to look to sections 2401 and 2501 of Title 28 of the United States Code, which provide a six-year period in which suit must be filed. A cause of action for interest on an overpayment of internal revenue tax does not arise and the six-year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the refund is allowed. The date of the allowance of the refund is the date the Commissioner or his delegate signs the schedule on which the overpayment is listed. The allowance of interest under section 6611(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 from the date of overpayment of the tax to a date not more than 30 days prior to the date of the refund is automatic and is usually made at the time the overpayment is scheduled. Any adjustment of such interest may be allowed and paid upon request at any time within six years from the date the schedule, on which the overpayment is listed, it signed. However, a request filed by a taxpayer on Form 843 does not stop the running of the six-year statute of limitations. The only manner in which a taxpayer can fully protect its rights to interest under section 6611(b)(2) of the Code is by filing a civil suit against the United States prior to the termination of the six-year statutory period under sections 240-1 and 2501 of Title 28 of the United States Code. See Rev. Rul. 56-506, C.B. 1956-2, 959.