in-20250528-IR-045250250NRA: DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVENUE

DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVENUE MEMORANDUM OF DECISION: 01-20242223 Indiana Corporate Income Tax For the Year 2020 HOLDING The Department erred when it determined Indiana Resident’s refund request was submitted outside the statute of limitations. ISSUE

I. Indiana Individual Income Tax – Refund Statute of Limitations.

Authority: IC 6-3-4-5; IC 6-8.1-9-1; Indiana Dept. of State Rev. v. Caterpillar, Inc., 15 N.E.3d 579 (Ind. 2014); Scopelite v. Indiana dept of Local Gov’t Fin., 939 N.E.2d 1138 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2010); 45 IAC 15-9-2. Taxpayer argues that the Department erred when it denied Taxpayer’s refund request on the grounds that the refund request was submitted outside the statute of limitations. STATEMENT OF FACTS Taxpayer is an Indiana resident who timely filed a 2020 IT-40 Individual Income Tax Return. On that return, Taxpayer reported receiving approximately $196,000 in federal adjusted gross income (“AGI”). Taxpayer subsequently filed a 2020 amended federal return. On that amended return, Taxpayer’s AGI was reduced to approximately $163,000. Taxpayer received an approximately $9,700 federal refund dated August 19, 2024 attributable to “Changes to your 2020 Form 1040.” The refund explained that the refund was “[b]ased on the information you provided, [because] we changed your 2020 Form 1040 . . . . ” Taxpayer filed an amended 2020 Indiana return May 1, 2023, also reflecting the adjusted AGI. Responding to the amended return, the Indiana Department of Revenue (“Department”) issued a letter on August 19, 2024. The letter provided: The letter indicated that Taxpayer’s AGI was corrected to reflect the $163,000 AGI amount. The letter explained: Taxpayer contacted the Department on October 4, 2024, asking about the refund he expected to receive based on the amended return. The Department’s notes indicated that “the refund is out of limitations.” Taxpayer disagreed with the Department’s decision denying the refund and submitted a protest to that effect. This Memorandum of Decision results and is based on the documentation Taxpayer provided, the Department’s records, and a hearing during which Taxpayer further explained the basis for the protest.

I. Indiana Individual Income Tax – Refund Statute of Limitations.

DISCUSSION The issue is whether Taxpayer has met his burden of establishing that the refund requested on his amended return was not barred by the statute of limitations. In meeting that burden, the Department bears in mind that poorly developed and non-cogent arguments are subject to waiver. Scopelite v. Indiana Dept. of Local Gov’t Fin., 939 N.E.2d 1138, 1145 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2010). When an agency is charged with enforcing a statute, the jurisprudence defers to the agency’s reasonable interpretation of that statute “over an equally reasonable interpretation by another party.” Indiana Dept. of State Rev. v. Caterpillar, Inc., 15 N.E.3d 579, 583 (Ind. 2014). The Department generally “has no legal method of generating a claim for refund. A claim for refund can only be initiated pursuant to IC 6-8.1-9-1.” 45 IAC 15-9-2(b) (Emphasis added). IC 6-8.1-9-1(a) (applicable to the Tax Year at Issue), in part, states: Alternatively, Indiana provides a one hundred-eighty-day window in which to file amended returns when the Indiana amended return is triggered by an IRS adjustment. Taxpayer received from the IRS a “final determination [] made concerning a claim for a refund[.]” IC 6-3-4-5(c)(3). Taxpayer is bound by Indiana law governing such refunds. That Indiana law is found at IC 6-8.1-9-1 which provides in part as follows: Taxpayer filed his amended federal return on the same day he submitted his Indiana amended return – May 1, 2023. The amended Indiana return called for a refund. The refund amount was listed on line 21 of the amended IT-40X. Taxpayer received his federal refund on August 9, 2024 confirming the adjustment called for in the amended federal return. Tolling the statute from the day he received his federal return, the amended Indiana return was submitted 100 days after the IRS notified him of the federal refund. As such the refund request was timely filed pursuant to IC 6-8.1-9-1(j) which grants taxpayers 180 days in which to request a refund stemming from a federal adjustment. In addition, Taxpayer filed his amended Indiana return within three-years of the date the original return was due, May 17, 2021. IC 6-8.1-9-1(a). Under either IC 6-8.1-9-1(a) or IC 6-8.1-9-1(j), Taxpayer’s refund request was timely filed and the Department made a mistake finding otherwise. FINDING To the extent described in this Memorandum of Decision, Taxpayer’s protest is sustained. March 19, 2025 Replaces Finding Document: New