Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73
§6602 Interest on Erroneous Refund Recoverable by Suit
Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle F— Procedure and Administration › Chapter 67— INTEREST › Subchapter A— Interest on Underpayments › § 6602
Summary
If the IRS refunds tax money by mistake and has to sue to get it back, the wrongly refunded amount earns interest at the federal underpayment rate, counting from the date the refund was paid.
Full Legal Text
Title 26, §6602
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Any portion of an internal revenue tax (or any interest, assessable penalty, additional amount, or addition to tax) which has been erroneously refunded, and which is recoverable by suit pursuant to section 7405, shall bear interest at the underpayment rate established under section 6621 from the date of the payment of the refund.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1986—Pub. L. 99–514 substituted “the underpayment rate established under section 6621” for “an annual rate established under section 6621”. 1975—Pub. L. 93–625 substituted “an annual rate established under section 6621” for “the rate of 6 percent per annum”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1986 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 99–514 applicable for purposes of determining interest for periods after Dec. 31, 1986, see section 1511(d) of Pub. L. 99–514, set out as a note under section 47 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1975 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 93–625 effective July 1, 1975, and applicable to amounts outstanding on such date or arising thereafter, see section 7(e) of Pub. L. 93–625, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 6621 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 6602
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73