IRS has two years to refund an administrative adjustment request

Plain-English summary

Chief Counsel advised an IRS campus about the time limit for issuing a refund based on an administrative adjustment request. The IRS has two years from the request's filing date to issue the refund unless the period is extended using Form 9247 or Form 9248. Although non-TEFRA claims can remain open indefinitely when the IRS does not issue a notice of disallowance, sections 6227(d)(1) and 6230(d)(2) do not permit that longer period for administrative-adjustment-request refunds.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: How long does the IRS have to issue a refund based on an administrative adjustment request?
• Outcome: Advice given, two years from filing unless extended
• Key authorities: IRC §§ 6227(d)(1) and 6230(d)(1)-(2)

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2014022710222601 [Third Party Communication:

UILC: 6227.00-00 Date of Communication: Month DD, YYYY]

Number: 201513001
Release Date: 3/27/2015
From:
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:22:26 AM
To:
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: AAR time limit

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have
given the Campus the following instruction:

We have two years to issue a refund for a AAR from the date of filing of the AAR (unless we get a Form
9247 or 9248 extension). I.R.C. 6230(d)(1) and (d)(2). For non-TEFRA claims we have an unlimited
time if we don’t issue a notice of disallowance. Neither section 6227(d)(1) nor section 6230(d)(2) allow
us to use this longer period for issuing AAR refunds.