Volunteer Attorney Assists Servicemember with Tax Issue After DFAS Overpayment

Due to an administrative error by the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS), an Air National Guard member was significantly overpaid. She self-reported the error. This created a debt with DFAS, which she paid back. Despite using a corrected W-2 for her tax filing for that year, the IRS did not provide her expected full tax refund, claiming that she did not have sufficient evidence of the overpayment. Struggling to get this corrected, the servicemember visited a military legal assistance attorney for help, which referred her case to the ABA Military Pro Bono Project.

The servicemember was connected to an attorney specializing in tax law. The attorney communicated with DFAS to ensure the debt was repaid properly. The attorney also prepared the servicemember’s tax return, ensuring that she received the proper tax refund.