Can a recoupment of bonus come up 6 months after my contract is completed?

2021-09-11T09:56:08-04:00

My enlisted contract has been over for almost 6 months and I enlisted another 6 years but now out of know where I receive an email about a recoupment amount for my enlistment bonus on my first contract over a PT flag in 2017? How is it just now coming up 6 months after the contract is over?

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Sep 11 at 2021 10:18 AM

2021-09-11T10:18:02-04:00

Check with a recruiter or DFAS. You know that when you are flagged- All favorable personnel actions are stopped, and failing any PT can make you ineligible due to not meeting standards of your contract.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 11 at 2021 8:13 PM

2021-09-11T20:13:56-04:00

Yes it can come up 6 months or 6 years later.
How it happened is that all Guard bonuses get audited.
Apparently, an audit of yours found that a bonus was erroneously paid out during a flag.
So now they have to collect the prorated amount for the duration of the flag, at which time you were not eligible for a bonus payment.

If you were just asking this question a different way than you did 3 days ago to see if there is some kind of statute of limitations on the gov't getting money back from you, there is none.

One more thing to consider, DFAS doesn't care that the bonus they gave you got taxed, they still recover the full pre-tax amount of the bonus or prorated portion thereof.
To recover the taxes from recouped money, you will need to file an amended return for whatever year income tax filing the bonus was in.