A 30-year-old Social Security overpayment left an Iowa man facing a debt claim from the IRS. Christopher Storm, a 30-year-old Iowa man, was left stunned after the IRS took away his tax refund to recover an old Social Security debt.
The IRS said Storm had received more Social Security money than he was supposed to get nearly 30 years ago, according to IRS records cited by The US Sun. Storm started receiving Social Security survivor benefits when he was 17 after his father died, according to Storm's account to a local news outlet.
He received about $500 every month until he turned 18, Storm said. After turning 18, he also received a final lump-sum payment of $3,000, according to Storm. The IRS now claims that Storm was overpaid back in 1996.
The agency says he owes around $8,000 in overpaid benefits. On top of that, the IRS added about $2,000 in interest, bringing the total amount to roughly $10,000, as per The Sun report.
Storm said the survivor benefits helped him support himself after losing his father, according to his comments. He said he and his family were scrambling to understand why the government was suddenly asking for repayment after so many years.
The case highlights a problem some Americans face when government agencies later decide that benefit payments were made in error. The Social Security Administration (SSA) had not publicly commented on Storm’s case at the time of publication.
