I know I am exempt from paying Social Security (FICA) because I have never paid any since I became a care- giver for DSHS in Washington State in 2017, and in Oregon for DHS when I moved there in August of 2020. As a caregiver whose client lived with me while I was living in Washington the state, they had me sign a form that I was exempt from paying any all taxes, federal and FICA. NO taxes were ever withheld from my paychecks due to Difficulty of Care Notice 2014-7. When I moved to Oregon they withheld FICA from my paychecks even though they should not have, and then I would file Form 843 every year and get them refunded with interest. This continued for 4 years. Then I faxed the Form to the number I was give and did not receive the refund as I had in the past. I finally found out why I was no longer getting the refund in 2024 for the 2023 tax year. It turned out that the person at the IRS who had been processing the refunds for me had retired and no one working there knew to process them. A few months ago I was finally able to talk to the person who took over that position, she took several months trying to figure out how to process my refund. She told me she worked in the corporate division of the department that processes Form 843 and she just needed time to figure out how to do it. There were about 5 phone calls between us and several faxes. She finally called me back last month and said she was told by her boss that I needed to amend my taxes instead of filing Form 843 to get the refund. She told me to file Form 1040X as a $1300 overpayment of FICA on line 12 and enter the explanation as: "Due to Difficulty of Care Notice 2014-7". The IRS told me that Oregon is not supposed to be withholding any FICA out of my paychecks and that they are the only state that refuses to cooperate with that law. Anyone that has been paying FICA and is not supposed to can fill out Form 1040X and get a refund for up to 3 years of their FICA payments, plus interest. Why do you think I am supposed to pay FICA and the IRS tells me I do not need to pay it and refunds it every year?
