Estate of Harrah v. United States

SNEED, Circuit Judge:

The Estate of William F. Harrah (Estate) seeks to recover an alleged overpayment of income taxes in the taxable years of 1983 and 1984. The William F. Harrah Marital Trust (Trust)1 also seeks to recover a related overpayment for the 1984 taxable year. The difficulty each confronts is that the reopening of the relevant years is barred by the statute of limitations. See 26 U.S.C. § 6511(a).

*1123To remove this bar the Estate relied upon the mitigation provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §§ 1311-1314, and the doctrine of equitable recoupment. The district court held…