Tsutomu Tedokon - Page 13




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               Petitioner asserts a claim for equitable relief.  The                  
          December 14, 1998, “REQUEST FOR YOUR TAX RETURN” notice sent by             
          respondent listed a credit balance of $11,807 and asked for an              
          explanation as to how petitioner wanted the credit balance                  
          handled.  Petitioner asserts that respondent should therefore be            
          estopped from denying application of the credit for overpayment             
          to his tax liabilities for years subsequent to 1991.                        
               We are bound by the strict terms of the statutory provisions           
          limiting refunds or credits for overpayments to those claimed               
          within the time limitations of section 6511.  United States v.              
          Brockamp, 519 U.S. 347, 352-354 (1997)(finding that Congress did            
          not intend courts to read equitable exceptions into section                 
          6511); Landry v. Commissioner, 116 T.C. at 62-63.  Equitable                
          relief is therefore unavailable to petitioner.                              
               We said in Allen v. Commissioner, 99 T.C. 475, 480 (1992),             
          affd. without published opinion 23 F.3d 406 (6th Cir. 1994), that           
                    As is true in many of the cases in this field, the                
               result may seem harsh in view of an actual overpayment,                
               but * * * [taxpayer] failed to file his income tax                     
               return more promptly, and the statute is precise.  The                 
               unhappy result for * * * [taxpayer] is the consequence                 
               of a “problem of * * * [his] own creation”. * * *  The                 
               situation is not an unfamiliar one, and has been before                
               us in a variety of other circumstances.  [Citations                    
               omitted.]                                                              

          Unfortunately for petitioner, these words apply with equal force            
          in his case.  The bar against application of any part of his                
          overpayment of 1991 estimated tax to later years is a situation             





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