(a) Claim by person who paid tax to IRS—(1) In general.

(i) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section, any person may file a claim for credit or refund for an overpayment (except to the extent that the overpayment must be credited pursuant to §31.3503-1) if the person paid to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more than the correct amount of employee Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax under section 3101 or employer FICA tax under section 3111, employee Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) tax under section 3201, employee representative RRTA tax under section 3211, or employer RRTA tax under section 3221, or interest, addition to the tax, additional amount, or penalty with respect to any such tax.

(ii) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section, the claim for credit or refund must be made in the manner and subject to the conditions stated in this section. The claim for credit or refund must be filed on the form prescribed by the IRS and must designate the return period to which the claim relates, explain in detail the grounds and facts relied upon to support the claim, and set forth such other information as may be required by this section and by the instructions relating to the form used to make such claim. No refund or credit pursuant to this section for employer tax will be allowed unless the employer has first repaid or reimbursed its employee or has secured the employee's consent to the allowance of the claim for refund and includes a claim for the refund of such employee tax. However, this requirement does not apply to the extent that the taxes were not withheld from the employee or, after the employer makes reasonable efforts to repay or reimburse the employee or secure the employee's consent, the employer cannot locate the employee or the employee will not provide consent. No refund or credit of employee FICA or RRTA tax overcollected in an earlier year will be allowed if the employee has claimed a refund or credit of the amount of the overcollection which has not been rejected or if the employee has taken the amount of such tax into account in claiming a credit against or refund of the employee's income tax, including instances in which the employee has included an overcollection of employee FICA or RRTA tax in computing a special refund (see §31.6413(c)-1).

(iii) Additional Medicare Tax. No refund or credit to the employer will be allowed for the amount of any overpayment of Additional Medicare Tax imposed under section 3101(b)(2) or section 3201(a) (as calculated under section 3101(b)(2)), which the employer deducted or withheld from an employee.

(iv) For adjustments without interest of overpayments of FICA or RRTA taxes, including Additional Medicare Tax, see §31.6413(a)-2.

(v) For corrections of FICA and RRTA tax paid under the wrong chapter, see §31.6205-1(b)(2)(ii) and (b)(2)(iii) and §31.3503-1.

(vi) For provisions related to furnishing employee statements and corrected employee statements reporting wages and withheld taxes, see sections 6041 and 6051 and §§1.6041-2 and 31.6051-1. For provisions relating to filing information returns and corrected information returns reporting wages and withheld taxes, see sections 6041 and 6051 and §§1.6041-2 and 31.6051-2.

(vii) For the period of limitations on credit or refund of taxes, see §301.6511(a)-1.

(2) Statements supporting employer's claims for employee tax.

(i) Every employer who files a claim for refund or credit of employee FICA tax under section 3101 or employee RRTA tax under section 3201 collected from an employee must certify as part of the claim process that the employer has repaid or reimbursed the tax to its employee or has secured the employee's written consent to allowance of the filing of the claim for refund except to the extent that the taxes were not withheld from the employee. The employer must retain as part of its records the written receipt of the employee showing the date and amount of the repayment, evidence of reimbursement, or the written consent of the employee, whichever is used in support of the claim.

(ii) Every employer who files a claim for refund or credit of employee FICA tax under section 3101 or employee RRTA tax under section 3201 collected from an employee in a calendar year prior to the year in which the credit or refund is claimed, also must certify as part of the claim process that the employer has obtained the employee's written statement that the employee has not claimed refund or credit of the amount of the overcollection, or if so, such claim has been rejected, and that the employee will not claim refund or credit of the amount. The employer must retain the employee's written statement as part of the employer's records.

(b) Claim by employee—(1) In general. Except as provided in (b)(3) of this section, if more than the correct amount of employee tax under section 3101 or section 3201 is collected by an employer from an employee and paid to the IRS, the employee may file a claim for refund of the overpayment if—

(i) The employee does not receive repayment or reimbursement in any manner from the employer and does not authorize the employer to file a claim and receive refund or credit,

(ii) The overcollection cannot be corrected under §31.3503-1, and

(iii) In the case of overpaid employee social security tax due to having received wages or compensation from multiple employers, the employee has not taken the overcollection into account in claiming a credit against, or refund of, his or her income tax, or if so, such claim has been rejected. See §31.6413(c)-1.

(2) Statements supporting employee's claim.

(i) Except as provided in (b)(3) of this section, each employee who makes a claim under paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall submit with such claim a statement setting forth (a) the extent, if any, to which the employer has repaid or reimbursed the employee in any manner for the overcollection, and (b) the amount, if any, of credit or refund of such overpayment claimed by the employer or authorized by the employee to be claimed by the employer. The employee shall obtain such statement, if possible, from the employer, who should include in such statement the fact that it is made in support of a claim against the United States to be filed by the employee for refund of employee tax paid by such employer to the IRS. If the employer's statement is not submitted with the claim, the employee shall make the statement to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, and shall include therein an explanation of his or her inability to obtain the statement from the employer.

(ii) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, each individual who makes a claim under paragraph (b)(1) of this section also shall submit with such claim a statement setting forth whether the individual has taken the amount of the overcollection into account in claiming a credit against, or refund of, his or her income tax, and the amount, if any, so claimed (see §31.6413(c)-1).

(3) Additional Medicare Tax.

(i) If more than the correct amount of Additional Medicare Tax under section 3101(b)(2) or section 3201(a) (as calculated under section 3101(b)(2)), is collected by an employer from an employee and paid to the IRS, the employee may file a claim for refund of the overpayment and receive a refund or credit if the overcollection cannot be corrected under §31.3503-1 and if the employee has not received repayment or reimbursement from the employer in the context of an interest-free adjustment. The claim for refund shall be made on Form 1040, “U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,” by taking the overcollection into account in claiming a credit against, or refund of, tax. The form to be used by residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands is Form 1040-SS, “U.S. Self-Employment Tax Return (Including Additional Child Tax Credit for Bona Fide Residents of Puerto Rico).” The form to be used by residents of Puerto Rico is either Form 1040-SS or Form 1040-PR, “Planilla para la Declaración de la Contribución Federal sobre el Trabajo por Cuenta Propia (Incluyendo el Crédito Tributario Adicional por Hijos para Residentes Bona Fide de Puerto Rico).” The employee may not authorize the employer to claim the credit or refund for the employee. See §31.6402(a)-2(a)(1)(iii).

(ii) In the case of an overpayment of Additional Medicare Tax under section 3101(b)(2) or section 3201(a) for a taxable year of an individual for which a Form 1040 (or other applicable return in the Form 1040 series) has been filed, a claim for refund shall be made by the individual on Form 1040X, “Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.”

(c) Effective/applicability date. This section applies to claims for refund filed on or after November 29, 2013.

[T.D. 6516, 25 FR 13032, Dec. 20, 1960, as amended by T.D. 9405, 73 FR 37379, July 1, 2008; T.D. 9645, 78 FR 71474, Nov. 29, 2013]