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Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73

§7479 Declaratory Judgments Relating to Eligibility of Estate with Respect to Installment Payments Under Section 6166

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle F— Procedure and Administration › Chapter 76— JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS › Subchapter C— The Tax Court › Part IV— DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS › § 7479

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Estates made up largely of a closely held business can pay estate tax in installments under section 6166. When the IRS decides an estate does not qualify for that installment plan, or that the extension has ended, or fails to make a decision at all, the estate can ask the Tax Court for a declaratory judgment settling the question. Only the executor, or someone who has taken on an obligation to make the installment payments, may file, and all such persons must be joined in the case. The estate must first exhaust its administrative remedies with the IRS; if the IRS has not acted within 180 days of a request, that requirement is treated as met. If the IRS mails its determination by certified or registered mail, the petition must be filed before the 91st day after the mailing. The usual 2-year deadline for filing a refund suit is paused during the 90 days after that notice and while the Tax Court case is pending.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §7479

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In a case of actual controversy involving a determination by the Secretary of (or a failure by the Secretary to make a determination with respect to)—
(1)whether an election may be made under section 6166 (relating to extension of time for payment of estate tax where estate consists largely of interest in closely held business) with respect to an estate (or with respect to any property included therein), or
(2)whether the extension of time for payment of tax provided in section 6166(a) has ceased to apply with respect to an estate (or with respect to any property included therein),
(b)(1)A pleading may be filed under this section, with respect to any estate, only—
(A)by the executor of such estate, or
(B)by any person who has assumed an obligation to make payments under section 6166 with respect to such estate (but only if each other such person is joined as a party).
(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 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) 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.
(c)The 2-year period in section 6532(a)(1) for filing suit for refund after disallowance of a claim shall be suspended during the 90-day period after the mailing of the notice referred to in subsection (b)(3) and, if a pleading has been filed with the Tax Court under this section, until the decision of the Tax Court has become final.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (a)(1), (2). Pub. L. 105–206, § 6007(d), substituted “an estate (or with respect to any property included therein),” for “an estate,”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–206, § 3104(b), added subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1998 AmendmentAmendment by section 3104(b) of Pub. L. 105–206 applicable to any claim for refund filed after July 22, 1998, see section 3104(c) of Pub. L. 105–206, set out as a note under section 7422 of this title. Amendment by section 6007(d) of Pub. L. 105–206 effective, except as otherwise provided, as if included in the provisions of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105–34, to which such amendment relates, see section 6024 of Pub. L. 105–206, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.

Effective Date

Pub. L. 105–34, title V, § 505(c), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 855, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [enacting this section] shall apply to the estates of decedents dying after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 5, 1997].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 7479

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73