Christopher Storm Says IRS Seeks $10,000 in Irs Social Security Debt Iowa Case
The IRS told Christopher Storm and his family it was claiming their refund to recover an irs social security debt iowa case tied to survivor benefits paid about 30 years ago. The debt was first listed at almost $8,000 and then revised to $10,000, leaving the Storms scrambling to understand why money they expected this year was being taken.
Storm said the seizure felt unfair. “To have them say, you know, 30 years later, ‘Hey, that was an overpayment,’ definitely feels very unjust.”
Christopher Storm and Amy Storm
Storm and his wife, Amy, said they were “frantically just trying to figure out what was going on” when they learned the refund would be clawed back. They had planned to use the money for home repairs, turning a routine tax return into a bill collection on a debt they say they did not expect to face now.
The Social Security Administration said Storm was overpaid in 1996. He was 17 when his father died and he began receiving survivor benefits of about $500 a month while working at Pizza Hut. When he turned 18, he received a final $3,000 lump sum payment and the benefits stopped.
Keith Buzzard on overpayments
Keith Buzzard, a Council Bluffs attorney, said cases like Storm’s are not unusual. “It is fairly common. I think in any given year, there’s like a million of these letters that go out to people,” he said.
Buzzard said the overpayment could have been tied to Storm’s work at Pizza Hut if he earned too much money under eligibility rules. Since 2011, the Social Security Administration has had no statute of limitations on collecting benefit overpayments, and notices typically give people 30 days to repay.
Storm’s repayment options
People who want to fight an overpayment can ask for a waiver or a reconsideration, and they can also request a repayment plan. In Storm’s case, the debt moved from almost $8,000 to $10,000 within days, making the refund seizure larger than the family first expected.
That leaves the Storms with a collection action tied to a 1996 overpayment notice, a refund they had already planned to spend, and a set of repayment options that can change how the debt is handled next.
