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adjustment does not constitute a claim for a refund; if the
tentative refund is disallowed, no action to obtain it may be
commenced in any court. Secs. 1.6411-1(b)(2), 1.6411-3(c),
Income Tax Regs. Following denial of a tentative carryback
adjustment, the taxpayer’s only recourse is to file a formal
claim for refund, sec. 1.6411-3(c), Income Tax Regs., with the
delay attending its likely denial by the Commissioner, which can
be vindicated only through a refund suit in the United States
Court of Federal Claims or a Federal District Court.
Upon receiving an application for a tentative refund, the
Commissioner is required within a 90-day period to undertake a
“limited examination” of the application to discover omissions
and errors of computation, determine the amount of the decrease
in the tax occasioned by the carryback, and make the appropriate
credit or refund. See sec. 6411(b); sec. 1.6411-3, Income Tax
Regs.
The tentative refund provisions were designed to give
financially ailing taxpayers a quick infusion of cash without
subjecting the claim to the delay attending a formal examination,
see Pesch v. Commissioner, 78 T.C. 100, 115 (1982), as well as to
provide relief from the strict application of the annual
accounting period. Because of the limited time within which
respondent must act, if he is to act at all, on an application
for tentative carryback adjustment, the formal examination of
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