A special statute of limitations applicable to tax offenses is
found
in 26 U.S.C. § 6531. It provides in part that, if a "complaint is
instituted" within the limitations period prescribed, i.e., either three
years
or six years, depending on the type of internal revenue offense, then "the
time
shall be extended until the date which is nine months after the date of the
making of the complaint." The courts have ruled that, in order to toll the
statute of limitations, the complaint must be valid, i.e., it must establish
probable cause to believe the accused committed an offense. SeeJaber
v. United States, 381 U.S. 214 (1965); United States v. Bland,
458
F.2d 1, 3-6 (5th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 843
(1972);
United States v. Miller, 491 F.2d 638, 644-45 (5th Cir.), cert.
denied, 419 U.S. 970 (1974).
Aside from continuing offenses and the application of special
provisions suspending the running of the statute of limitations (e.g., when
a
person is a fugitive), statutes of limitations normally begin to run when
the
offense is complete. In the internal revenue statute, however, Congress has
provided that, in the case when a tax return is filed or a tax is paid
before the
statutory deadline, the limitations period begins to run on the date when
the
return or payment was due (without regard to any extension of time obtained
by
the taxpayer). See 26 U.S.C. §§ 6531 and 6513. These
statutes
are based on the desirability, for purposes of administrative convenience in
criminal tax investigations, of a uniform expiration date for most taxpayers
despite variations in the dates of actual filing. But seeUnited
States v. Habig, 390 U.S. 222, 225, 226 (1968). Habig held that,
where an extension of time is secured but the return is filed after the
original
statutory due date, the period of limitations starts to run when the return
is
filed rather than on the date (but for the extension) when it was due.
Otherwise, the limitation period would begin before the offense was even
committed.