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PETITIONER: In December ‘87, my ex-wife went to
the support enforcement office here in Iowa –- I was
living in the State of Washington –- and she made the
complaint to them that I had never paid her. And there
was absolutely no truth to that.
THE COURT: Okay.
PETITIONER: But the support enforcement office
is, to this day, using that same complaint, to take my
Federal and State income taxes, and always have.
THE COURT: Well, no, wait a minute, Mr. Taken.
You’re saying the support enforcement office is taking
your Federal income tax refunds?
PETITIONER: In letters that I have received from
them, they are claiming that they are taking them.
But, when I come back and say, What have I paid for the
year, there’s no record of it. Between ‘87 and ‘94,
there is no record of them taking any of my wages,
which they did do.
They started in ‘89, they started garnishing my
wages. But from ‘83 until December ‘87, when she [the
ex-wife] filed this complaint, they won’t recognize the
payments that I’ve made. And this is why they’re
taking my income tax returns [sic].
According to petitioner, he claimed overpayments on his tax
returns for 1987 through 1994 but never received a refund check.
2. Petitioner’s Strategy To Avoid Withholding
In 1995, petitioner began writing “exempt” on Form W-4,
Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, which he filed with
the Railroad. Using this stratagem, petitioner virtually
eliminated withholding in 1995, significantly reduced withholding
in 1996, and completely eliminated withholding in 1997. At
trial, petitioner testified that he adopted this strategy “out of
pure frustration” because no one would inform him regarding the
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Last modified: May 25, 2011