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former common parent of the affiliated group, it was an
“unauthorized recipient” of the tentative refunds. We recall
that nonrebate refunds are paid to taxpayers because of clerical
or computer errors by the Commissioner and are unrelated to the
recalculation of tax liability, whereas rebate refunds are paid
because of a recalculation of tax. See O’Bryant v. United
States, 49 F.3d at 342; Clayton v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-
327. To the extent that tentative carryback adjustments are even
susceptible to a rebate/nonrebate analysis, they are the essence
of rebate refunds; they are paid because the taxpayer’s
substantive recalculation of an earlier year’s tax liability when
a later year’s tax attribute is carried back. As the following
discussion demonstrates, respondent paid the tentative refunds to
petitioner on the basis of petitioner’s recalculation of the
group’s 1981 and 1984 tax years, and not because of any clerical
or computer error.
Under section 6411(a), a taxpayer who incurs an NOL may
apply for a tentative refund based on a tentative carryback
adjustment of the taxes for the taxable years prior to the NOL
year that are affected by the carryback of the NOL. The
application must contain specific information and be filed within
12 months from the end of the year in which the NOL was
sustained. Id. Although obtaining a cash infusion by way of a
refund is the objective, an application for a tentative carryback
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