U.S. Code » Title 26 » Subtitle Subtitle F— Procedure and Administration › Chapter CHAPTER 66— LIMITATIONS › Subchapter Subchapter D— Periods of Limitation in Judicial Proceedings

26 U.S.C. § 6531

Periods of limitation on criminal prosecutions

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 26 CasesGoogle Scholar
No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any of the various offenses arising under the internal revenue laws unless the indictment is found or the information instituted within 3 years next after the commission of the offense, except that the period of limitation shall be 6 years—(1) for offenses involving the defrauding or attempting to defraud the United States or any agency thereof, whether by conspiracy or not, and in any manner;(2) for the offense of willfully attempting in any manner to evade or defeat any tax or the payment thereof;(3) for the offense of willfully aiding or assisting in, or procuring, counseling, or advising, the preparation or presentation under, or in connection with any matter arising under, the internal revenue laws, of a false or fraudulent return, affidavit, claim, or document (whether or not such falsity or fraud is with the knowledge or consent of the person authorized or required to present such return, affidavit, claim, or document);(4) for the offense of willfully failing to pay any tax, or make any return (other than a return required under authority of part III of subchapter A of chapter 61) at the time or times required by law or regulations;(5) for offenses described in sections 7206(1) and 7207 (relating to false statements and fraudulent documents);(6) for the offense described in section 7212(a) (relating to intimidation of officers and employees of the United States);(7) for offenses described in section 7214(a) committed by officers and employees of the United States; and(8) for offenses arising under section 371 of Title 18 of the United States Code, where the object of the conspiracy is to attempt in any manner to evade or defeat any tax or the payment thereof.The time during which the person committing any of the various offenses arising under the internal revenue laws is outside the United States or is a fugitive from justice within the meaning of section 3290 of Title 18 of the United States Code, shall not be taken as any part of the time limited by law for the commencement of such proceedings. (The preceding sentence shall also be deemed an amendment to section 3748(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, and shall apply in lieu of the sentence in section 3748(a) which relates to the time during which a person committing an offense is absent from the district wherein the same is committed, except that such amendment shall apply only if the period of limitations under section 3748 would, without the application of such amendment, expire more than 3 years after the date of enactment of this title, and except that such period shall not, with the application of this amendment, expire prior to the date which is 3 years after the date of enactment of this title.) Where a complaint is instituted before a commissioner of the United States within the period above limited, the time shall be extended until the date which is 9 months after the date of the making of the complaint before the commissioner of the United States. For the purpose of determining the periods of limitation on criminal prosecutions, the rules of section 6513 shall be applicable.(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 815.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 3748(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, referred to in text, was classified to section 3748(a) of former Title 26, Internal Revenue Code. For table of comparisons of the 1939 Code to the 1986 Code, see Table I preceding section 1 of this title. See, also, section 7851(a)(6)(B) of this title for applicability of section 3748 of former Title 26. See also section 7851(e) for provision that references in the 1986 Code to a provision of the 1939 Code, not then applicable, shall be deemed a reference to the corresponding provision of the 1986 Code, which is then applicable.

The date of enactment of this title, referred to in text, is Aug. 16, 1986 [formerly I.R.C. 1954], the date of enactment of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 242 cases (10 in the last 5 years), 1956–2025 · leading case: Kawashima v. Holder, 132 S. Ct. 1166 (2012).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Kawashima v. Holder, 132 S. Ct. 1166 (2012). · cites it 4× “The suggestion that Congress may have worried about Scharton when framing legislation over 60 years later is hardly credible.”
United States v. Blanchard, 618 F.3d 562 (6th Cir. 2010). · cites it 4× “3 Before trial, the Blanchards brought motions to dismiss counts six through seventeen as time-barred by the limitations period set out in 26 U.S.C. § 6531 , to sever the trial, and to exclude evidence regarding their discretionary spending and details of Blanchard’s application…”
United States v. The Southland Corp. & S. Richmond Dole & Eugene Mastropieri, the Southland Corp., Eugene Mastropieri, 760 F.2d 1366 (2d Cir. 1985). · cites it 4× “§ 6531 (1), the period of limitations is six years for “offenses arising under the internal revenue laws” and “involving the defrauding or attempting to defraud the United States or any agency thereof, whether by conspiracy or not.”
Badaracco v. Comm'r, 464 U.S. 386 (1984). · cites it 2× “See 26 U. S. C. § 6531 . He is also subject to a 50% penalty.”
United States v. James J. Kassouf, 144 F.3d 952 (6th Cir. 1998). · cites it 5× “Kassouf argues to the contrary, that the general three year statute of limitations in 26 U.S.C. § 6531 applies, rather than the more specific six year statute of limitations.”
United States v. Warren Monroe Hayes, United States of Am. v. Warren Monroe Hayes, 322 F.3d 792 (4th Cir. 2003). · cites it 4× “In support, he argued that a three-year statute of limitations applied under 26 U.S.C.A. § 6531 (West 2002) and that only four of the charges in the indictment involved conduct within the preceding three years.”
United States v. Ingredient Tech. Corp., Formerly Known as Sucrest Corp., & Robert M. Rapaport, 698 F.2d 88 (2d Cir. 1983). · cites it 3× “§ 3282 , the general five-year statute, is applicable rather than that portion of 26 U.S.C. § 6531 (1), (8). 10 While 26 U.”
United States v. Ohle, 678 F. Supp. 2d 215 (S.D.N.Y. 2010). · cites it 4× “26 U.S.C. § 6531 (2). The period begins to run upon the filing of the tax returns that underlie those counts.”
United States v. Rigas, 605 F.3d 194 (3rd Cir. 2010). · cites it 2× “" 26 U.S.C. § 6531 . [6] Blockburger is "employed to ascertain whether the inference that [the legislature] intended multiple punishments is a reasonable one.”
United States v. William Lee Workinger, 90 F.3d 1409 (9th Cir. 1996). · cites it 3× “26 U.S.C. § 6531 . 1 The district court disagreed and applied, instead, the six-year statute of limitations.”
United States v. Jack E. White, United States of Am. v. Gene Kuykendall, 671 F.2d 1126 (8th Cir. 1982). · cites it 5× “Kuykendall contends that none of the eight exceptions providing for a six-year statute of limitations applies in this case. We disagree. Count I of the indictment charges that White and Kuykendall did unlawfully, knowingly and willfully conspire, combine, confederate, and agree…”
United States v. John Musacchia & Joseph Gambino, 900 F.2d 493 (2d Cir. 1990). · cites it 3× “The statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions arising under the internal revenue laws is found in 26 U.S.C. § 6531 (1982), which states in relevant part: No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any of the various offenses arising under the internal revenue…”
Show all 242 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.