(a) The amount of any adjustment ascertained under § 1.1314(a)-1 or § 1.1314(a)-2 shall not be diminished by any credit or set-off based upon any item other than the one that was the subject of the adjustment.
(b) The application of this section may be illustrated by the following examples:
In the example set forth in paragraph (e) of § 1.1314(a)-1, if, after the amount of the adjustment had been ascertained, the taxpayer, filed a refund claim for the amount thereof, the Commissioner could not diminish the amount of that claim by offsetting against it the amount of tax which should have been paid with respect to the $6,000 interest item omitted from gross income for the year 1949; nor could the court, if suit were brought on such claim for refund, offset against the amount of the adjustment the amount of tax which should have been paid with respect to such interest. Similarly, the amount of the refund could not be increased by any amount attributable to the taxpayer's failure to deduct the $4,500 interest paid in the year 1949.
Assume that a taxpayer included in his gross income for the year 1953 an item which should have been included in his gross income for the year 1952. After the expiration of the period of limitations upon the assessment of a deficiency or the allowance of a refund for 1952, the taxpayer filed a claim for refund for the year 1953 on the ground that such item was not properly includible in gross income for that year. The claim for refund was allowed by the Commissioner and as a result of such determination an adjustment was authorized under section 1311 with respect to the tax for 1952. If, in such case, the Commissioner issued a notice of deficiency for the amount of the adjustment and the taxpayer contested the deficiency before the Tax Court of the United States, the taxpayer could not in such proceeding claim an offset based upon his failure to take an allowable deduction for the year 1952; nor could the Tax Court in its decision offset against the amount of the adjustment any overpayment for the year 1952 resulting from the failure to take such deduction.
(c) If the Commissioner has refunded the amount of an adjustment under section 1311, the amount so refunded may not subsequently be recovered by the Commissioner in any suit for erroneous refund based upon any item other than the one that was the subject of the adjustment,
In the example set forth in paragraph (e) of § 1.1314(a)-1, if the Commissioner had refunded the amount of the adjustment, no part of the amount so refunded could subsequently be recovered by the Commissioner by a suit for erroneous refund based on the ground that there was no overpayment for 1949, as the taxpayer had failed to include in gross income the $6,000 item of interest received in that year.
(d) If the Commissioner has assessed and collected the amount of an adjustment under section 1311, no part thereof may be recovered by the taxpayer in any suit for refund based upon any item other than the one that was the subject of the adjustment.
In example (2) of paragraph (b) of this section, if the taxpayer had paid the amount of the adjustment, he could not subsequently recover any part of such payment in a suit for refund based upon the failure to take an allowable deduction for the year 1952.
(e) If the amount of the adjustment is considered an overpayment, it may be credited, under applicable law and regulations, together with any interest allowed thereon, against any liability in respect of an internal revenue tax on the part of the person who made such overpayment. Likewise, if the amount of the adjustment is considered as a deficiency, any overpayment by the taxpayer of any internal revenue tax may be credited against the amount of such adjustment in accordance with the applicable law and regulations thereunder. (See section 6402 and the corresponding provisions of prior revenue laws.) Accordingly, it may be possible in one transaction between the Commissioner and the taxpayer to settle the taxpayer's tax liability for the year with respect to which the determination is made and to make the adjustment under section 1311 for the year with respect to which the error was made or for a year which is affected, or treated as affected, by a net operating loss deduction or a capital loss carryover from the year of the error.
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