Deadline Expiring to Make Claim for Refund for Wrongfully Incarcerated Taxpayers

Posted on December 13, 2016

To be entitled to a refund, a taxpayer must make that claim for refund within three years of the presumptive date of the tax return, plus any extensions, or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later.

For example, if you want to make a claim for refund for the taxable year 2013, you must do so within 3 years of the presumptive due date of the tax return, which is April 15, 2014. Three years from April 15, 2014, is April 15, 2017 (actually April 18, 2017, this year).

If you do not make a claim within the applicable time period for doing so, any refund to which you may otherwise be entitled will be barred by the refund statute of limitations. However, there is a special retroactive tax exclusion for wrongfully incarcerated taxpayers that will expire on December 19, 2016.

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act was enacted in December of 2015 and provides a one-year retroactive tax exclusion where wrongfully incarcerated taxpayers can file a claim for refund based upon any civil damages, restitution or other monetary award received and reported in a prior tax year even if the refund statute of limitation for that year has already expired.

If you are a wrongfully incarcerated taxpayer and meet the criteria, you must timely file your claim for refund by December 19, 2016, or your refund will be barred.

Are you having trouble with the IRS? Get legal representation with Chicago tax lawyer Patrick T. Sheehan & Associates. Contact us today!