Good morning, I am not a member of your organization. But I am a veteran and served honorably in the USMC from 2008 to 2014. Now I am in the Army NG serving as an M-day soldier. I would like to ask you if you can help me with some legal issue I have with the IRS or at least direct me to the correct person or organization. IRS audited me 2014 income tax declaration. And they found I had 2100 dollars in debt with them. I was renting my second room to a student, and short story they want me to show them receipt of the expenses. I don't have those receipts due military orders in 2015 and another set of orders in 2016. I put all my furniture in storage and those receipts got lost. I was in the hospital in June 2017 and I have a bill of 37 000 dollars in collection, the army overpaid me in my 2016 training and now they are taking back the money. I am not including my child support; pay the rent of the apartment and my car loan (gas, insurance, etc). I honestly need help, and IRS sent me a letter said I can go to court in Washington DC. But I don't know how starts this process, I called IRS three times by the phone they provided me in the letter, and nobody answer it and computer said leave phone number, SSN and name so someone will call you ASAP. I am still waiting....... I don't know what else to do, and my savings are getting reduced very quickly. If you send me an email to my navy email I can provide you my dd214 if need it. I know is a lot of fake stolen valor around and you need to be careful before provide assistance or advice. Thank you for your consideration.
Second, your situation is complex, and you really do need professional advice at this point.
But, if I understand, the alleged debt due IRS arises from being unable to provide receipts for the rental and expenses, because the data has been lost.
I'm wondering though if the $37K in hospital expenses shouldn't have been covered at least in part by your military status, even as an M-day solider, although I realize that's not a full time enlistment. Did the issues for which you were hospitalized arise from any military activity?
If not, were you getting VA health benefits at that time?
I ask b/c I'm wondering if any of these issues might factor in to offset the IRS claim or the medical expenses.
And BTW, if you haven't registered for VA benefits, please do so you can be covered in the future.
Beyond that, I would do this:
1. Contact your Army JAG office in your area or the closest base with a JAG office. They might be able to intervene for you as an M soldier. I don't know enough about the USMC to know if their JAGs could intervene or represent you after discharge, but it's worth a try.
2. If JAG can't or won't help, ask if they know of any tax attorneys, preferably with IRS experience. There's a specific term for tax attorneys with some level of IRS qualification but I can't remember what it is.
3. I worked periodically for a tax attorney. They'll negotiate with the IRS and can work out a settlement at a fraction of what the IRS claims. And they know how to deal with IRS people. Some were former attorneys with the IRS, so they're an excellent choice.
You might have to work out a payment schedule with one, but at this stage of the game I think professional tax help is definitely in order.
4. I would contact the IRS no more by phone but only in writing or by e-mail, so that your efforts to contact them are documented. This is important; in the last several years I've noticed that IRS has taken some stupid actions, ignoring basic facts and literally needing to be held by the hand. The individuals writing the letters don't seem to have much of a clue what they're doing.
It used to be that working with the IRS was unsettling, but I could count on them to be rational and intelligent.
As an illustration, a few years ago some IRS person wrote my father and advised that he would have to file a specific form claiming a refund for a deceased person. He had been alive all this time, and there was absolutely no justification for their irrational and w/o foundation conclusion that he had died.
Nor was there any explanation how he would file a form for his deceased self, if he really was deceased.
If there had been a closer office, I would have taken my father to the IRS office and he could announce to them that he's still alive and he's not ready to be declared dead by some foolish if not idiotic IRS staffer.
Back to your issues, I wish you success and some measure of relief in finding someone to represent you, in working out a payment arrangement with him/her (or better yet, a free JAG service), and some peace of mind while you endure this challenge with bureaucracy.