Mitigation of the SOL on refund claims.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Author: Hudson, Boyd D.
• Date: 01 May 1997

The Internal Revenue Code's mitigation provisions (Sees. 1311-1314) are available to either a taxpayer or the IRS to provide relief when the statute of limitations (SOL) or other provisions would otherwise give rise to an inequitable adjustment in tax. The provisions permit either a refund to the taxpayer or an assessment to the Service under special circumstances.

The mitigation provisions usually arise when the taxpayer or the IRS maintains an inconsistent position, the effect of which would cause a double inclusion of income or double exclusion of a deduction. For example, assume a taxpayer erroneously includes an item of income in year 1 (a year closed by the statute) when it should have been included in year 2. If the...