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Thousands of veterans injured in combat could soon be able to recoup taxes erroneously collected from their disability severance pay due to a new law signed by President Barack Obama. About 13,800 veterans separated from the military due to their injuries might have been affected, the nonprofit group National Veterans Legal Service Program estimates. Due to an accounting error, as much as $78 million in taxes deducted over decades from the lump sum payments. Federal law considers the severance payments tax exempt. But the nonprofit group said the Defense Finance and Accounting Service system was automatically making deductions since 1991, meaning troops injured in conflicts spanning from the Gulf War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan might have been taxed thousands of dollars improperly. [more]
Released 12/19/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
For some veterans who were shortchanged millions by the government, it took an act of Congress to finally get the money they were owed. “It literally takes an act of Congress to try to right this historic wrong that was done to them,” said Thomas Moore, a lawyer with the nonprofit National Veterans Legal Services Program. For several decades, the government knowingly and wrongfully taxed the severance packages of these veterans who suffered service-ending combat disabilities, Moore said. “We have estimated that it’s about 14,000 veterans, and the total amount taken from these veterans we’ve estimated as about $78 million,” Moore said. [more]
Released 12/18/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
A Washington, D.C., federal judge has refused to kill a proposed class action by nonprofit groups that claim PACER is too expensive, concluding Monday the users don’t have to exhaust the service’s administrative appeals because the complaint isn’t about a billing error. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle rejected the government’s bid to toss the suit brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program, the National Consumer Law Center and Alliance for Justice over PACER’s fees, saying the suit addresses different issues than the ones outlined by the service’s user agreement, according to Monday’s decision. [more]
Released 12/16/16 | Tags:
Thousands of combat-wounded veterans are in line for big payouts from the Defense Department after lawmakers passed a fix to severance package problems before leaving town last weekend. And many may not know they’re owed any money. The Combat-Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act of 2016, expected to be signed into law by the president in the coming days, mandates the department stop improperly taxing severance payouts for troops wounded in war zones, and requires Pentagon officials to identify any veterans whose benefits were improperly taxed. [more]
Released 12/15/16 | Tags:
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation early Saturday to ensure that veterans who suffer service-ending combat-related injuries are not taxed on the severance payment they receive from the Department of Defense (DOD). The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation earlier in the week. Now the bill is headed to the President’s desk to be signed into law. [more]
Released 12/14/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
The U.S. Senate passed a measure over the weekend that supporters say will return money to the pockets of more than 150 combat-injured veterans in Arkansas. The Combat-Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act of 2016 directs the U.S. Department of Defense to stop taxing the severance payments of veterans who sustained service-ending combat injuries. Under federal law, those payments should not be taxed, but about $78 million in taxes have been levied due to problems with the Defense Department's automated payment system, according to the National Veterans Legal Services Program. [more]
Released 12/13/16 | Tags:
The Senate sent legislation to the White House to pay back combat-injured veterans who were improperly taxed. It directs the Defense Department to identify injured veterans who had their severance payments taxed, and find out how much they are owed. The National Veterans Legal Services Program estimates nearly 14,000 veterans lost money as a result of wrongful taxation. [more]
Released 12/13/16 | Tags:
The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill authored by Congressman David Rouzer (NC-9) to provide every veteran who has had their severance payments wrongfully taxed the opportunity to recover the payment in full. [more]
Released 12/6/16 | Tags:
Compassion for veterans with less-than-fully-honorable discharges, known colloquially as “bad paper,” has never been politically popular. This fall, Congress and President Barack Obama must have the courage to ensure the Fairness for Veterans Act becomes law and to initiate reform of the review boards of the armed services. [more]
Released 11/14/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation, Discharge Upgrades
Veterans group says Pentagon wrongly withheld taxes from combat-injured vets. Proposed legislation could correct the problem for thousands. [more]
Released 11/10/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation