California Revenue & Taxation Code Sections 19331 and 19385: When Can a Taxpayer Consider a Claim for Refund Deemed Denied?

Pursuant to Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code Section 19306(a) a claim for refund typically must be filed within for years from the date the return was filed, four years from the last day prescribed for filing the return (determined without regard to any extension of time for filing the return), or one year from the date of the overpayment, whichever expired later. If six months elapses without any action upon a filed refund claim, the taxpayer generally may consider the claim disallowed or “deemed denied” and either appeal the claim to the State Board of Equalization (SBE) or file a suit for refund in court.

(The remainder of this article can be accessed in the June 2006 edition of Lexis California Tax Practice Insights.)