Treasury Regulations · 26 CFR

§ 301.6401-1. Amounts treated as overpayments.

In effect eCFR current as of October 15, 2026

Regulation text, no changes From the eCFR, current as of October 15, 2026. The eCFR is an authoritative but unofficial editorial compilation of the Code of Federal Regulations; the official text is the annual CFR on govinfo. Compare it with this section on ecfr.gov (external site) or the official annual CFR on govinfo (external site).

Regulation under 26 U.S.C. § 6401

Cite as 26 CFR § 301.6401-1

At a glance

Read from the text and its source citation. Not part of the regulation.

Status: In the current eCFR
Issued: August 25, 1972 by T.D. 7204
Last amended: April 3, 1978 by T.D. 7537
Issued under: 26 U.S.C. § 6401
Length: 166 words · about 1 min to read
Defines: 1 term
Cross-references: cites 1 Code section and 0 regulations; cited by 2

¶(a) The term “overpayment” includes:

¶(1) Any payment of any internal revenue tax which is assessed or collected after the expiration of the period of limitation applicable thereto.

¶(2) Any amount allowable for a taxable year as credits under sections 31 (relating to tax withheld on wages), 39 (relating to certain uses of gasoline, special fuels, and, lubricating oil), 43 (relating to earned income credit), and 667(b) (relating to taxes paid by certain trusts) which exceeds the tax imposed by subtitle A of the Code (reduced by the credits allowable under subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Code, other than the credits allowable under sections 31, 39, and 43) for such year.

¶(b) An amount paid as tax shall not be considered not to constitute an overpayment solely by reason of the fact that there was no tax liability in respect of which such amount was paid.

[T.D. 7204, 37 FR 17158, Aug. 25, 1972, as amended by T.D. 7537, 43 FR 13878, Apr. 3, 1978]