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New DFAS policy to lighten impact of pay miscalculations

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ryan Whitney
  • Nellis Public Affairs
A new DFAS policy that changes the amount of involuntary recovery of overpayments from two-thirds of disposable pay to 20 percent has recently gone into effect.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year '07 was signed into law by the president in October 2006. The policy changes the cap, or limit, for the total amount of money that can be involuntary recovered from servicemembers pay checks when they receive extra money that was incorrectly disbursed to the military member through clerical, administrative, or system error.

"Many times the mistake occurs when a new Airman arrives at his first duty station and receives Basic Allowance for Subsistence by mistake. They don't realize they are getting extra money that they aren't supposed to receive and then wonder why they didn't get paid the following month when the government takes the extra money that they incorrectly received out of their paycheck," said 1st Lt. Shawn Pistner, assistant staff judge advocate with the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center.

Servicemembers may elect to contribute more than 20 percent minimum, as long as they don't elect less than the minimum. The amount will be deducted from the servicemembers disposable pay. Disposable pay is the amount left after all mandatory and voluntary deductions, to include insurance and taxes, are made from gross pay, said Lieutenant Pistner.

This can be done by coordinating with the finance office, but it must be done before the involuntary collection begins.

Under the new law, servicemembers who have been injured or become ill while in a combat zone or combat operations do not have to worry about a deduction being made until 90 days after they have been notified of the overpayment.

Servicemembers must still pay two-thirds of the amount due if the overpayment is due to an action or inaction of the servicemember.

For more information on the new law, visit http://thomas.loc.gov or contact the finance office at (702) 652-4844.

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