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Title 26, Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-110

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

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

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Tax Court can decide, when there is a real dispute, if an estate may use the special installment payment plan under section 6166 or if that extra time to pay has ended. If someone files the right papers, the court’s declaration counts as a Tax Court decision and can be reviewed like other decisions. Only an estate’s executor or a person who agreed to make the 6166 payments may file. If there are multiple such payers, they all must join. The court will not act until the petitioner has exhausted IRS remedies. A petitioner is treated as having exhausted remedies 180 days after asking if they took all reasonable steps. If the IRS mailed a determination, the filing must be made before the 91st day after that mailing. The 2-year limit to sue for a refund is paused during the 90 days after the mailing and, if a Tax Court pleading is filed, until the Tax Court decision is final.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §7479

Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Creation of remedy
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),
upon the filing of an appropriate pleading, the Tax Court may make a declaration with respect to whether such election may be made or whether such extension has ceased to apply. Any such declaration shall have the force and effect of a decision of the Tax Court and shall be reviewable as such.
(b)Limitations
(1)Petitioner
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)Exhaustion of administrative remedies
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)Time for bringing action
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)Extension of time to file refund suit
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

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110