In Revenue Ruling 2020-8 (issued April 17, 2020), the IRS and Treasury suspended Revenue Ruling 71-533, as well as part of Revenue Ruling 68-150, pending reconsideration. Nevertheless, taxpayers may continue to rely on them.

The revenue rulings address the application of the special 10-year statute of limitations (SOL) for claims for refund or credit under IRC Section 6511(d)(3) resulting from a foreign tax credit carryback as a result of (1) a net operating loss (NOL) carryback from a later year; and (2) the correction of mathematical errors or any other adjustments to the size of the credit.

In Revenue Ruling 71-533, the taxpayer carried an NOL from 1969 to 1966, eliminating its taxable income for 1966 and freeing up foreign tax credits to be carried to 1964. Applying IRC Section 6511(d)(3), the ruling concludes that the claim for refund or credit for an overpayment of tax in 1964 was timely. Revenue Ruling 68-150 states, in part, that IRC Section 6511(d)(3) applies to claims for refund or credit based on the correction of mathematical errors and any other adjustments to the size of the foreign tax credit.

Presumably, the impetus for the IRS and Treasury to reconsider these issues is the new NOL carryback rules introduced by the CARES Act, particularly the interaction of IRC Section 6511(d)(2)(A) (SOL for NOL carrybacks) and IRC Section 6511(d)(3). Any change in the IRS and Treasury's position, however, will be prospective, so the suspensions will not be applied adversely to taxpayers that have filed or file claims for credit or refund in accordance with the two revenue rulings.