26 U.S.C. § 7121
Section 7121 · Closing agreements
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 177 court decisions — leading case National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife (2007)
Most recently applied in United States v. Said Rum (April 2021)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 26 U.S.C. § 6213 · 26 U.S.C. § 6231 · 26 U.S.C. § 7122
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.
The Secretary is authorized to enter into an agreement in writing with any person relating to the liability of such person (or of the person or estate for whom he acts) in respect of any internal revenue tax for any taxable period.
If such agreement is approved by the Secretary (within such time as may be stated in such agreement, or later agreed to) such agreement shall be final and conclusive, and, except upon a showing of fraud or malfeasance, or misrepresentation of a material fact—
(1) the case shall not be reopened as to the matters agreed upon or the agreement modified by any officer, employee, or agent of the United States, and
(2) in any suit, action, or proceeding, such agreement, or any determination, assessment, collection, payment, abatement, refund, or credit made in accordance therewith, shall not be annulled, modified, set aside, or disregarded.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1976—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.
Cross References
Deduction for deficiency dividends, see section 547 of this title.
Fraud and false statements, see section 7206 of this title.
Joint returns of income tax by husband and wife, see section 6013 of this title.
Mitigation of effect of limitations and other provisions, see section 1313 of this title.