Paul Casey retired from the U.S. Navy and received a determination of service-connected disability retroactive to 2017. By when can he file a claim for a refund for taxes paid on his pension for 2019?

The ability for Paul Casey to file a claim for a refund of taxes paid on his pension for 2019 is linked to specific rules regarding the retroactive nature of the determination of service-connected disability. When a veteran receives a determination of service-connected disability, that determination is retroactive to the established date, which in this case is 2017.

Tax refunds for overpaid amounts typically have a limitation period defined by the IRS, which allows individuals to claim refunds for a maximum of three years from the filing deadline for the tax year in question. For the 2019 taxes, the filing deadline was April 15, 2020. This means that Casey would have until April 15, 2023, to file a claim for a refund based on the 2019 tax year.

However, since the determination of service-connected disability was retroactive to 2017, the veteran has an extended period to file claims related to that determination. The IRS rules state that when a claim for a refund is grounded in the result of a disability determination, an additional time is afforded for filing, typically extending the period to five years from the date of the underlying determination or the return's original due date.

In this case, counting from the