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Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73not60

§7478 Declaratory Judgments Relating to Status of Certain Governmental Obligations

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle F— Procedure and Administration › Chapter 76— JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS › Subchapter C— The Tax Court › Part IV— DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS › § 7478

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows a person who plans to issue bonds or other obligations to ask a court to decide if the interest on those future obligations will be tax-free under section 103(a), or to sue if the IRS fails to make that decision. Only the prospective issuer may bring the case. The court will not act until the issuer has used all IRS administrative steps. If the IRS does not decide, the issuer is treated as having exhausted remedies 180 days after making the request, if it timely took all reasonable steps to get a decision. If the IRS sends its decision by certified or registered mail, the court case must be filed before the 91st day after that mailing.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §7478

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In a case of actual controversy involving—
(1)a determination by the Secretary whether interest on prospective obligations will be excludable from gross income under section 103(a), or
(2)a failure by the Secretary to make a determination with respect to any matter referred to in paragraph (1),
(b)(1)A pleading may be filed under this section only by the prospective issuer.
(2)The court shall not issue a declaratory judgment or decree under this section in any proceeding unless it determines that the petitioner has exhausted all available administrative remedies within the Internal Revenue Service. A petitioner shall be deemed to have exhausted its administrative remedies with respect to a failure of the Secretary to make a determination with respect to an issue of obligations at the expiration of 180 days after the date on which the request for such determination was made if the petitioner has taken, in a timely manner, all reasonable steps to secure such determination.
(3)If the Secretary sends by certified or registered mail notice of his determination as described in subsection (a)(1) to the petitioner, no proceeding may be initiated under this section unless the pleading is filed before the 91st day after the date of such mailing.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1988—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–647 substituted “whether interest on prospective obligations will be excludable from gross income under section 103(a)” for “whether prospective obligations are described in section 103(a)” in par. (1) and “whether interest on such prospective obligations will be excludable from gross income under section 103(a)” for “whether such prospective obligations are described in section 103(a)” in concluding provisions.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1988 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 100–647 effective, except as otherwise provided, as if included in the provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99–514, to which such amendment relates, see section 1019(a) of Pub. L. 100–647, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.

Effective Date

Pub. L. 95–600, title III, § 336(d), Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2842, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [enacting this section and amending section 7456, 7476, 7477, and 7482 of this title] shall apply to requests for determinations made after December 31, 1978.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 7478

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60