67 Ct. Cl. 643 | Ct. Cl. | 1929
delivered the opinion of the court:
The plaintiff, an Indian, received income from royalties on oil lands which were tax exempt, and, it is conceded, should not have been taxed in the first place. It is also true that if the refund in proper form and in compliance with the statute had been filed within the statutory period the Commissioner of Internal Revenue would have had to refund the tax.
On March 8,1920, the plaintiff filed her income-tax return, which showed income derived exclusively from proceeds of
Thereafter, on May 2, 1927, the. plaintiff filed claims for refunds, and on June 18 and November 9, 1927, the Commissioner of Internal Bevenue rejected the claims on the ground that they could not be paid under the law, since they were not filed within four years from the dates of payment of the taxes. As heretofore stated, plaintiff at the time of filing her returns also filed a written protest.
The plaintiff’s claims under section 3228
The Government can be sued only when and as it consents, and where it has prescribed the acts and forms for bringing an action against it, those acts and forms must be strictly complied with. It has stated in its statutes that a claim for refund in writing must be filed within four years after payment of tax, stating the grounds for the claim. The plaintiff has failed to do this and clearly has not complied
All claims for the refunding or crediting of any internal revenue tax alleged to have been erroneously or illegally assessed or collected * * * must be presented to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue within four years next" after payment of such tax * * *.