Suppose that Hickory Manufacturing, Inc., a corporation headquartered in North Carolina, believes that it is entitled to a $24,700 federal tax refund, and that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has wrongfully refused to issue the refund. If Hickory Manufacturing elects to sue the United States (the IRS is a federal administrative agency) to recover the refund, it must pursue the matter:__________

a. in federal court, since the United States is a party to the litigation.
b. in North Carolina state court, since the company is headquartered in North Carolina.
c. through binding arbitration, non-binding arbitration, or mediation, since the United States has governmental immunity in the court system (although it does allow claims against the federal government to be pursued via alternate dispute resolution).
d. in United States Tax Court, since the dispute involves a tax matter.

Based on the scenario in the question, in case Hickory Manufacturing elects to sue the United States in order to get back the $24700 federal tax refund which wasn't given to the company, it must be done in a federal court because the the IRS is a federal administrative agency and hence, the matter can't be pursued in the North Carolina state court.

Therefore, the correct option is A "in a federal court, since the United States is a party to the litigation".