Stuart O. Bronstein wrote:
- quote -

Form 911: I disagree. He has no standing - at least for
the FICA taxes. IRC 6413 - The EMPLOYER must file the claim
for overpayment. For the excess withholding, he can get
that back by claiming it on his income tax return as normal.
THe IRC does not provide for erroneously overwithheld
amounts to be refunded.

I would not pay back the overwithheld amount until I got the
refund from the IRS, and then the payment would be WITHOUT
interest to the employer. Note also that since the employer
refuses to issue a corrected W-2, the repayments (due to
their size, exceeding $3000) will follow the "claim of
right" procedure.

[I will concede that it is debatable that this taxpayer had
an "unrestricted right" to the income when it was paid, but
I argue it is a matter of equitable treatment that leads me
to that procedure.]

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Harlan Lunsford <lunstax[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:
- quote -

Looks like a case for Form 911.

Stu

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Tripurari Singh wrote:

- quote -

After I just replied (see above) I saw a piece on Fox news
about medical marijuana in San Francisco and it referred to
California Proposition 215 which allows for medical
marijuana!

Maybe the Lucent person was smoking something strange.

Cheer$$$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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Tripurari Singh wrote:
- quote -

Completely wrong. Any error should be corrected, whether or not
you return the money.

- quote -

Again wrong.

- quote -

Just checked most recent IRS CD ROM and couldn't find any
reference to anything with that number, neither a form nor a
publication. And this IS the latest IRS CD; came just today.

- quote -

Perhaps a lawyer can help you retrieve the tax you repaid them

Cheer$$$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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I believe that the time has come -- actually it came some
time ago -- that an attorney be consulted.

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Victor Roberts <Vic[at]Lighting-Research.com> wrote:
- quote -

Yes, it is Lucent's error and I fought with them for a
couple of years over it. All along they maintained that:

1. The Govt. requires a revised W2 before it can return the
money.
2. This money can only be returned to me.
3. They are prohibited by law from re-issuing a revised W2
unless they get money back from me.

Which effectively meant that the process couldn't get
started until I paid up first. I took their word for it, and
now they have changed their tune. They are refusing to give
me a corrected W2, and instead advised me to fill out Pub
215. I looked through IRS' website and could find no such
publication. Has anyone heard of Pub 215?

Any advice appreciated.

-Tripurari

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Phil Marti wrote:
- quote -

Since Lucent demanded he repay the entire 25K, I just
wonder.....

Do they really expect the proper course is to send him a W2
for 25 and the 8 K withheld and seriously expect him to add
this to his existing income for the year, which of course
just might put him in a higher tax bracket? Get my drift?

Cheer$$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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tsingh[at]cnds.jhu.edu (Tripurari Singh) wrote:

- quote -

Tripurari,

Just curious, did it occur to you to just return to Lucent
the money that they actually gave you in overpayment and
tell Lucent to go get the money they improperly sent the
governments themselves?

BC

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Tripurari Singh wrote:

- quote -

"Bungled" isn't the word. I would use a more direct and
more scathing comment than that.

- quote -

Well, if they overpaid you by 17K, then you owed them, so
that ok. But why would you pay them another 8k$? If
they're telling you to get it back from the government, they
had BETTER furnish you with the approprpiate W2 forms with
which to do it.

- quote -

Properly speaking, you are due a refund of the 8K you "repaid" Lucent.
Speak to an attorney about this, even if you have to sue them.

Cheer$$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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tsingh[at]cnds.jhu.edu (Tripurari Singh) writes:

- quote -

You need W-2's from Lucent. (BTW, you were silly to give
Lucent more cash than they gave you. You left yourself in
the situation of trying to recover from the government
rather than letting them worry about it.)

Phil Marti
Topeka, KS

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singh[at]cnds.jhu.edu (Tripurari Singh) wrote:

- quote -

Why did you have to pay them back the $8K they sent to the
government? I can understand repaying the extra $17K they
paid to you, but it seems to be their obligation to get the
government to refund the funds they paid to the government
in error. How are you responsible for their error?

--
Vic Roberts

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When I quit Lucent in 2001, their accounting department
bungled and kept direct depositing my salary for a few
months. By the time I figured out their error, they had
overpayed me $17K and sent another $8K to the federal
and Maryland state governments.

I have returned $17K to Lucent plus the $8K that they
payed the government on my behalf. I now need to get
back my $8K from the government. How do I go about it?

Unfortunately, Lucent's tax advice is very poor. They
have given me contradictory statements and advised me
to fill out non-existent forms.

Thanks,
Tripurari

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