| Flora v. United States, 357 U.S. 63 (1958) | ||||||
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Supreme Court of the United States |
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| Argued May 20, 1958 Decided June 16, 1958 |
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| Full case name | Flora v. United States | |||||
| Citations | 357 U.S. 63 (more) 357 U.S. 63, 78 S. Ct. 1079 (1958), aff'd on rehearing, 362 U.S. 145, 80 S. Ct. 630 (1960) |
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| Prior history | Cert. to the 10th Circuit | |||||
| Holding | ||||||
| A taxpayer must pay the full amount of an income tax deficiency assessed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue before he may challenge its correctness by a suit in a federal district court for refund under 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(1). | ||||||
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| Case opinions | ||||||
| Majority | Warren, joined by unanimous | |||||
Flora v. United States, 357 U.S. 63 (1958), aff'd on rehearing, 362 U.S. 145 (1960), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that a taxpayer generally must pay the full amount of an income tax deficiency assessed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue before he may challenge its correctness by a suit in a federal district court for refund under 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(1). The Supreme Court agreed with the Commissioner, stating that the "full payment rule" requires that the entire amount of an asserted deficiency be paid before a refund suit may be maintained.
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If the taxpayer chooses to pay less than the deficiency asserted, the taxpayer's only remedies are (A) a deficiency proceeding in the Tax Court, or (B) in a bankruptcy case, a determination under section 505(a) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Flora full payment rule can be a problem for a taxpayer who lets the 90-day period (following the issuance of a statutory notice of deficiency, during which he or she may file a Tax Court petition) expire and then cannot fully pay, due to insufficient assets, because the assets were seized or voluntarily liquidated for payment.