No revised W-2

[tmrkm]

I left me previous employer (DoD) on 21 Oct 11. Erroneously, they paid me two more times after I left. In mid-December, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) sent me a letter telling me how to go about paying the two over payments back. The problem is they said I owed them more back than I received in net pay. To make a long story short, it took DFAS a month to provide me an explanation on the difference - the explanation was marginal at best, but I went ahead and paid them the full amount in mid-January. When I received my W-2 from DoD at the end of January, it still showed the two over payments as salary. When I contacted them about receiving a corrected W-2, they said I would receive a corrected W-2 next January, which means their error goes unchecked and my tax burden goes up through no fault of my own. And yes, I just prepared my taxes for 2011, and these two over payments threw me into a higher tax bracket, increasing what I owe on federal and state by an additional $2,500. DFAS doesn't seem interested in doing anything about it now - their solution is to just issue me a revised W-2 next January. What are my legal options?

 

[army judge]

I left me previous employer (DoD) on 21 Oct 11. Erroneously, they paid me two more times after I left. In mid-December, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) sent me a letter telling me how to go about paying the two over payments back. The problem is they said I owed them more back than I received in net pay. To make a long story short, it took DFAS a month to provide me an explanation on the difference - the explanation was marginal at best, but I went ahead and paid them the full amount in mid-January. When I received my W-2 from DoD at the end of January, it still showed the two over payments as salary. When I contacted them about receiving a corrected W-2, they said I would receive a corrected W-2 next January, which means their error goes unchecked and my tax burden goes up through no fault of my own. And yes, I just prepared my taxes for 2011, and these two over payments threw me into a higher tax bracket, increasing what I owe on federal and state by an additional $2,500. DFAS doesn't seem interested in doing anything about it now - their solution is to just issue me a revised W-2 next January. What are my legal options?

Legal options with the government, none.

You could try writing to your US Congressperson and your two US Senators and ask them to help DFAS correct the mistake sooner, rather than later.

A letter to Obama and the Secretary of Defense asking them to intercede might get you some action.

If not, you're stuck, these folks don't care about Joe and Jane American, anymore!