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Helvering, 301 U.S. 540, 542 (1937). That situation persisted
until 1988 when Congress enacted section 6512(b), giving the Tax
Court jurisdiction to order the refund of overpayments determined
in deficiency proceedings.16 Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue
Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100-647, sec. 6244, 102 Stat. 3750. This
legislative history makes clear that Congress believed that
absent this legislative change the Tax Court lacked authority to
16 Sec. 6512(b)(2) provides:
Jurisdiction to enforce. If, after 120 days after a
decision of the Tax Court has become final, the
Secretary has failed to refund the overpayment
determined by the Tax Court, together with the interest
thereon as provided in subchapter B of chapter 67, then
the Tax Court, upon motion by the taxpayer, shall have
jurisdiction to order the refund of such overpayment
and interest. An order of the Tax Court disposing of a
motion under this paragraph shall be reviewable in the
same manner as a decision of the Tax Court, but only
with respect to the matters determined in such order.
Sec. 6512(b)(2), read in isolation, does not expressly
confine to deficiency proceedings the Tax Court’s jurisdiction to
enforce overpayments; read in the context of sec. 6512 as a
whole, however, that is clearly the effect. Sec. 6512(a)
describes limitations on claiming a refund or credit when a
petition is filed in Tax Court in response to a “notice of
deficiency”. Sec. 6512(b)(1) confers on the Tax Court
jurisdiction to determine an overpayment “if the Tax Court finds
that there is no deficiency and further finds that the taxpayer
has made an overpayment * * * or finds that there is a deficiency
but that the taxpayer has made an overpayment”. Pursuant to sec.
6512(b)(3), no credit or refund will be allowed unless the Tax
Court determines as part of its decision that (among other
things) the tax was paid “after the mailing of the notice of
deficiency”. Similarly, as more fully described in the following
note, the legislative history indicates that enactment of sec.
6512(b)(2) was in response to treatment under then-present law of
“a refund of a tax for which the IRS has asserted a deficiency.”
H. Conf. Rept. 100-1104, at 231 (1988), 1988-3 C.B. 473, 721.
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