Supreme Court strikes down equitable tolling of limitations period for refund claims.

• Author: Gold, Harvey D.
• Position: Brief Article

On Feb. 18, 1997, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the position adopted by the Ninth Circuit that the statutory period for filing claims for refund may be tolled on equitable grounds (Brockamp, 117 Sup. Ct. 849 (1997)).

The Court's decision ended a conflict between the Ninth Circuit (which had adopted the principle of equitable tolling) and the First, Fourth, Tenth, Eleventh and Federal Circuits (which had rejected the principle). In each of these cases, the taxpayer asked the court to extend the statutory period for an "equitable" reason, namely, that he had a mental disability (senility or alcoholism) that caused the delay. In siding with the taxpayer, the Ninth Circuit determined that the statutory limitations period in Sec. 6511 contained an implied "equitable tolling" exception.

In making their claim, the taxpayers relied on Irwin v. Department of Veteran Affairs, 498 US 89 (1990) (a nontax case), in which the Supreme Court found an untimely lawsuit filed against a government employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be timely based on the "rule of equitable tolling," which applies "to suits against the Government, in...