IRS Charges U.S. Vet For Missing Equipment…

Snaquebite · 02-19-2014, 06:11

WTF?

‘It Is Immoral’: IRS Charges U.S. Vet For Missing Equipment…Nearly a Decade After the Fact

Quote:

A United States Army veteran is outraged after being fined approximately $1,600 by the Internal Revenue Service for equipment he reportedly lost nearly 10 years ago.
Gerrod Branum of Fairmont, W.V., served in the U.S. Army from 2001 to 2005, joining up after the 9/11 attacks.

“I even lost friends of mine in those Twin Towers so it kind of hit home for me,” Branum told WBOY-TV. “When it comes down to losing good hearted Americans that worked their lives away, in this country we look at terrorists as two things. You are the enemy and you don’t come in our backyard.”

Most of Barnum’s service was spent in Iraq.

“More or less on the factors of going over there, I wish it upon no soldiers to have to deal with stuff we had to deal with in Iraq,” the veteran said.

He said that on his way home from deployment, a bag containing much of his field equipment got lost.

“We went to the company commander and informed him. We went from company commander and went to the [commanding officer]. The CO said ‘OK, file charges’ of basically what we call a field loss. All this paperwork was done and turned in,” he said.

Fast-forward to 2014, nearly a decade after the incident: Barnum was sent a letter from the IRS notifying him that approximately $1,600 was being withheld from his tax return on account of the missing equipment.

He tried contacting the IRS, but his inquiries have been met with silence so far.

“As a government, you took my money in all aspects for a field loss for my service to my country,” he said. “It is not right. It is wrong and it is immoral.”

Official U.S. Army regulations state Barnum should have been charged within three months of the loss of the equipment.

“A whole decade went by,” he said. “Me personally, if that was the case you should have notified me before you put me out of the military.”

Barnum is currently working on resolving the issue in court.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014...ter-the-fact/#

miclo18d · 02-19-2014, 06:20

I guess I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how the IRS got involved with a unit/CIF issue. These losses are handled at that level! Hopefully I don't find a statement of charges for that canteen cup on my next 1040!!!

Denmark....smelly....something....something.

ddoering · 02-19-2014, 06:41

I'm betting someone in the Army filed a statement of charges and now his tax return is being garnished by the IRS to pay for a debt owed the government.

MiTTMedic · 02-19-2014, 07:49

Guess I better find that pile cap and laundry bag.....

JimP · 02-19-2014, 08:26

Yeah - this doesn't add up. The IRS only gets involved when it is a debt due the government and all collection actions have failed and it has been vetted via DFAS.

It most likely is NOT the equipment but a mistake in his pay/entitlements from back in the day and he has simply refused to (or cannot) respond.

JJ_BPK · 02-19-2014, 08:36

I have a case of K rations and a doz D rations.
If I eat them will I still be responsible..

Richard · 02-19-2014, 08:56

Maybe he came up for auditing because he's been making some iffy tax deduction claims and they discovered he'd made this one as well.

Richard

Stiletto11 · 02-19-2014, 09:01

Must be a Tea Party member.

FlagDayNCO · 02-20-2014, 10:27

Recall after 9/11 that there was a body armor shortage within the Army? So it seamed then.

Here is an article explaining some of what went on then...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...xtra_gear.html

I also recall that Army later told anyone that claimed the purchased equipment as an expense, had to turn it in to the Army. Since the Army reimbursed the individual soldier, it became Army property.

I know some men claimed the item(s) on their IRS forms, as they also had small businesses and ran the stuff through that way. With the recent (last few years) enhancement of IRS filing and Obamacare cross referencing, I wonder how many Vets will have their claim adjusted by the IRS?

Then again, the Soldier may have claimed the items previously and the IRS caught his error.

MtnGoat · 02-20-2014, 16:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlagDayNCO

Recall after 9/11 that there was a body armor shortage within the Army? So it seamed then.

Here is an article explaining some of what went on then...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...xtra_gear.html

I also recall that Army later told anyone that claimed the purchased equipment as an expense, had to turn it in to the Army. Since the Army reimbursed the individual soldier, it became Army property.

I know some men claimed the item(s) on their IRS forms, as they also had small businesses and ran the stuff through that way. With the recent (last few years) enhancement of IRS filing and Obamacare cross referencing, I wonder how many Vets will have their claim adjusted by the IRS?

Then again, the Soldier may have claimed the items previously and the IRS caught his error.

This is a valid point and what did happen up until about 05/06 timeframe.