Godfrey v. United States

KANNE, Circuit Judge. Time is money. In the context of the interest a taxpayer loses while awaiting the issuance of a $279,323.00 tax refund check, four months equates to $6,580.20. Internal Revenue Code § 6611, 26 U.S.C. § 6611, recognizes this principle by providing that, in limited circumstances, taxpayers shall receive interest on the money the government holds as a result of their overpayment of taxes. In this case in which the taxpayers overpaid their taxes and the government failed to prove it mailed an original refund check, section 6611 entitles the taxpayers to the interest which accrued while they awaited a replacement refund check. On April 16, 1990, Dudley and Constance Godfrey filed their tax return for the year 1989, indicating their overpayment of taxes entitled them to a refund in the amount of $279,323.00.1 The transcript of the Godfreys' taxpayer account kept by the Internal Revenue Service (""IRS"") contains an entry on June 4, 1990, which reads ""REFUND OF OVERPAYMENT."" Two months later, the Godfreys submitted a Capital Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund to the IRS, declaring that they had not received the refund check. The IRS contends the check was mailed; the Godfreys contend the check was never received. The check has not been cashed and its whereabouts are unknown. The IRS canceled this original refund check and issued a replacement check on August 9, 1990, which the Godfreys received on August 11, 1990.