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» From: Phoenix, AZ Dear TaxMama: When SSA started providing cumulative statements of SS income in 1998, I discovered that 0 earnings were attributed to me for 1984 and 1985, 1985, when I was self-employed. I was married filing jointly then, but was divorced in 1991. When I reviewed my Schedule C's and SE's for those years, I found that my ex-husband's SS# was at the top of these pages for 1985 instead of mine. In the case of the 1984 Schedules C and SE, my SS# is correctly shown, but I still got no credit on the SSA statement! My local SSA office says I have no remedy through them because of the statute of limitations and that I should ask the IRS if they have any channel for my inquiry. In any case, SSA says, I might have to contact my ex directly, which I would rather not do. I feel stuck because I had no way of finding out that the SSA did not record any SE income for me. With only 3 years for inquiry, I could not possibly have responded, since they were not sending out statements in the '80's! My issue is not with the amount of tax charged, but that I get the appropriate SS credit. Have you heard of similar cases? Can you recommend any possible remedy? Paula Dear Paula, That's a really tough break. But it may not be as bad as you might think. You see your Social Security benefits are based on your 10 highest years of earnings. (Or the highest 40 quarters) I'll bet you earned a lot less in 1984 & 1985 than you are earning now. And, no doubt, you already have 10 other years under your belt, which are credited. You can fight this. If I had to do that, I'd probably start by writing a letter to SSA to put them on written notice about the error, and politely request that they change that. If you go to IRS to open that, and they agree to, you will also open up that whole tax return for audit. Not a pleasant option. You probably don't even have the records from those years. Your other option is to go to your Congressfolks and ask them to help you - and to consider passing legislation to correct this. You are not the only woman this happened to. In fact, I'll bet that this error occurred more often with wives getting shortchanged than husbands. To reach Senators (US Senate) To reach Representatives (House of Representatives) Oh, and if you want to bug President Bush or Vice President Cheney, here's the White House Website On the other hand, if you were married long enough, and you were his first wife, you'll be able to collect from his Social Security account, if it's higher than yours, when you're ready to retire. If you want my advice? If you're still healthy and working for the next 5 or 10 years, forget it. You're putting so many more credits into that account, those years won't even be considered. Good luck. Best wishes, Eva Rosenberg Your TaxMama  |
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