26 U.S.C. § 6602
Section 6602 · Interest on erroneous refund recoverable by suit
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 16 court decisions — leading case Avon Products, Inc. v. United States (1978)
Most recently applied in United States v. Davenport (September 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Any portion of an internal revenue tax (or any interest, assessable penalty, additional amount, or addition to tax) which has been erroneously refunded, and which is recoverable by suit pursuant to section 7405, shall bear interest at the underpayment rate established under section 6621 from the date of the payment of the refund.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1986—Pub. L. 99–514 substituted “the underpayment rate established under section 6621” for “an annual rate established under section 6621”.
1975—Pub. L. 93–625 substituted “an annual rate established under section 6621” for “the rate of 6 percent per annum”.
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 99–514 applicable for purposes of determining interest for periods after Dec. 31, 1986, see section 1511(d) of Pub. L. 99–514, set out as a note under section 47 of this title.
Effective Date of 1975 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 93–625 effective July 1, 1975, and applicable to amounts outstanding on such date or arising thereafter, see section 7(e) of Pub. L. 93–625, set out as an Effective Date note under section 6621 of this title.