Orange County

Army veteran still waiting on stimulus checks after being declared dead

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Army veteran James Hanna is not dead, and he has a letter from the VA to prove it.

In 2012, the VA declared him deceased, after three years of fighting he was able to prove he was still alive.  Now he has another problem.

“I called the VA and they say I have to call the IRS,” says James as he recounts trying to find out why he has not received his stimulus checks. “They said we’re reducing your refund to zero because someone claimed you as a dependent or you don’t qualify.”

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Hanna was told that he was ineligible, although he should qualify.

The IRS was late in issuing stimulus checks to veterans due to having to take in data from the VA.  Because of this checks went out later and for those vets like James, problems have been harder to sort out.

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“I’ve got a daughter heading off to college, and it would be nice to have some money to give her as she starts her journey,” says Hanna.