Agency Sent Paychecks After He Left, Holding Him Accountable For Taxes Withheld

A former FAA employee has found himself neck-deep and sinking in bureaucratic red tape after the agency sent him two paychecks following his resignation in 2009.

Tom Singer worked for the agency briefly in 2009 writing safety regulations. He resigned late that year to take a job with a private company in Florida.

The Washington Post reports that Singer later received two paychecks from the agency due to administrative errors. A clerk forgot to take him out of the system, and he received the checks in December of 2009.

Singer thought the first was a payment for accrued vacation. When informed it was a mistake, he reimbursed the government for his net pay. But the second time, the government demanded that he reimburse them for his gross pay, about a thousand dollars more, because they had turned over his state and federal withholdings to the Virginia Department of Treasury. So even though he never got the money, the federal government said he was responsible for making them whole.

Singer has asked for an amended W-2 form to file amended federal and state tax returns for 2009, but the government is not having any part of it, even though the comptroller general admits Singer is not at fault for the overpayment.

Singer has saved every piece of correspondence associated with the situation, but his three-year window to file amended tax returns is quickly closing. The debt has been turned over to collection and is accruing penalties. The FAA told the Washington Post in a statement that it is "committed to working with Mr. Singer to address the remaining issues quickly and close the matter."

Most recently, Singer received a letter from the Treasury Department saying it would garnish his wages at a rate of 15 percent until the debt is satisfied.

FMI: www.treasury.gov, www.faa.gov