Taxes Got You Down?
Mar 08 2010
The following is from a MOAA member who works with the IRS as a member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel or TAP. He provides useful information that may help if you find the going tough during this tax season. Enjoy.
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By: JOHN S.S. KIM, LtCol, USAF (Retired), TAP Representative from Hawaii
The IRS wants to help you. IT’S TRUE!! As we rapidly approach the IRS deadline to file last year’s income taxes, the IRS wants to know of any problems you may have experienced, issues that may have arisen, or suggestions that you may have for improving the process. In fact, there is a whole staff of IRS employees and volunteers from every state (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) whose purpose is to receive, research, and resolve tax issues and suggestions. That organization, the TAXPAYER ADVOCACY PANEL (TAP), serves as focus groups for the IRS providing input on strategic initiatives and providing a venue for raising issues identified by citizens.
While TAP does not directly work issues related to or requiring legislative or statutory changes, it has dealt with hard to use forms, confusing instructions, errors in computer processing, and with numerous suggestions to make filing easier for all citizens.
For more information, you can go to the TAP website at http://www.improveirs.org/ or call the national toll-free phone number: 1-888-912-1227.
If you are interested in serving as a TAP member from your state, TAP will be conducting a new recruiting cycle from March 15 to April 30. Information about application procedures and timelines are available on the website as well.
TAP want to help the IRS improve the tax filing processes. To do that, we need input from you. As you go through this year’s filing season, keep notes about things that didn’t seem to work right, frustrations that you encountered, and suggestions that you may have thought of. Then, communicate those notes to the TAP. Even better—apply to become a member of this federal organization whose sole existence is to help American citizens.
As current or former military members and families, we have all previously dedicated ourselves to service our country. We are willing to contribute resources to keep America strong and free—and that includes paying our fair share of taxes. The TAP is ready, willing, and able to help make that process better.
I would like to get in contact with any organization that can or does work with with DFAS on trying to get changes to things like the Retiree Account Statement (RAS).
The Retiree Account statement makes me what to scream at times. Why is it so hard to figure out some of the basics? I know the military is big on families, but mine went south and I am not alone (the big divorce rate is a news item, so why aren’t some resources extended to making information clear and manageable to assist in holding down the stress?) in dealing with the fiscal fall-out. So here are my questions:
I don’t understand why my RAS doesn’t clearly state the time my retirement is based on.
I don’t understand why my RAS doesn’t clearly state what the Former Spouse deduction is based on.
I don’t understand why the RAS can’t clearly show what is actually taxed.
I don’t understand why DFAS can’t show if the Former Spouse Deduction is taken before or after the VA Waiver is deducted. And if not before the VA Waiver, why not?
I don’t understand why when there is a change to the Former Spouse Deduction it isn’t explained in the Message Section.
I don’t understand why when I call DFAS, when I finely reach a person, they can’t tell me what base amount the Former Spouse Deduction is based on and I have to do the math in Excel. What, is it a state secret????
Like many retired service members, I have to send a payment to my former spouse when her entitlement changes. But nothing on the RAS helps me understand the math behind the change so I can recompute her entitlement that isn’t based on 100% of my Active Federal Service. So my Gross Pay isn’t the correct number for computing the correction. It isn’t just for me to just throw my VA Waiver compensation to her because the RAS has so little useful information to make calculations.
There, now what can I do to bring about change?