News From The
Defense Finance and Accounting Service

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Important End-of-Year DFAS News for Retirees

12-01-11 End of Year Mailing: Retirees will be receiving some extra documents in the end of year mailing. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) advises you to keep everything included in this mailing. Every piece of paper is important and will help you manage your pay through the tax season and beyond. Here's a quick breakdown of the things you will receive:

1. Account Statement dated December 2nd – will show new payment amount as of December 30th, 2011. This includes the Cost of Living Adjustment for 2012.
2. Account Statement dated December 12th – will show new payment amount as of February 1st, 2012. This includes any Federal Income Tax adjustments caused by changes to the 2012 tax tables.
3. 1099R(s) – will reflect all payments received in 2011. Please keep in mind that due to the pay date change approved by Congress earlier this year, 1099R will reflect 13 payments rather than 12.
4. Retiree Newsletter – includes important updates from Retired and Annuitant Pay, as well as information about tools you can use to manage your retired pay account year round.

All end of year documents will be mailed out to retirees and annuitants between December 12, 2011 and January 10, 2012.

It's important that our members keep their contact information current. The number one reason a retiree or annuitant doesn't receive their 1099R is because it is sent to the wrong place.

CRDP/CRSC Open Season is Coming: Retirees eligible for both Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payment (CRDP) and Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) may participate in the CRDP/CRSC Open Season this year. The Open Season Election Form, which arrives by mail, allows retirees to choose which payment they wish to receive. Federal law prohibits receiving both CRDP and CRSC.

CRDP/CRSC election forms will be mailed out mid-December and all eligible retirees should receive their form by January 1, 2012. Forms should only be submitted if the retiree is making a change. Envelopes must be postmarked by Jan. 31. If postmarked after this date, the form will not be processed and the current payments will continue.

DFAS R&A End of Year Bulletin

Tax Rates Change for Retirees, Annuitants

4-12-09 Retirees and annuitants may see a change in the amount of money they receive May 1 thanks to a new tax credit.

Public Law 111-05, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17. This act authorized a tax credit for most workers including recipients of retired and annuity pay, and will reduce federal withholding tax rates.

These new federal tax rates were in place April 1 for the retired and annuity pay due May 1. The new tables can be found at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n1036.pdf. People wanting to adjust their federal tax withholding after this tax credit takes effect must submit a new Form W-4P. This form is available at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4p.pdf.

Mail a completed Form W-4P to: U. S. Military Retired Pay, P.O. Box 7130, London, KY 40742-7130; fax it to (800) 469-6559; or make the adjustment through an active myPay account online at mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx. (Courtesy of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service)

Air Force Retiree News Service

DFAS Clears Backlog of CRSC Retroactive Payments

6-25-08 The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) completed processing of backlogged claims for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC). Details can be found at http://www.dfas.mil/retiredpay/retroactivepayment.html and if you are affected, you can verify your status via myPay or with the Retired Account Statement (RAS) that is being sent to you as notification of the change.

Information provided by Michael Glatz of Chiang Mai VFW Post 12074
and forwarded by Chris Palombi, Assistant Department Service Officer, Veterans of Foreign Wars

DFAS Adds New Security Measure to the myPay System

5-11-07 Another new security feature has been added to protect customers' data on the pay account system, myPay officials announced May 9. As part of an ongoing commitment to strengthen password and account security to protect customers' data, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has implemented the "virtual keyboard" to assist in protecting against malicious software such as spyware, trojans and keylogging.

The virtual keyboard is available now. Each time a user arrives at myPay to log on, the virtual keyboard will appear on the screen. The user will type in their login identification and then the user will "press" the keys on the screen by clicking on them with their mouse to enter their Personal Identification Number instead of typing the actual keys. The virtual keyboard is to be used only for the user's PIN.

To enhance security, the keyboard layout changes or keys are displayed randomly every time the page is refreshed.

"This is a significant move toward adding yet another layer of security to our myPay system," said Pat Shine, director of operations for DFAS. "We want to reassure our customers that we are proactively working to secure their pay account information."

DFAS uses a variety of security features to protect data on the myPay system, yet officials ask that customers do everything they can to protect data from being compromised or captured on home computers. Under frequently asked questions on the myPay home page https://mypay.dfas.mil, customers can find more information on steps to secure home computers.

To login to myPay using the Virtual Keyboard:

DFAS Starts Retired Pay Newsletter

12-31-05 The Defense Finance and Accounting Service's Retired and Annuity Pay staff has created a new retired pay newsletter that will be published periodically and cover topics of interest to military retirees and annuitants.

The newsletter is available via the DFAS myPay website at https://mypay.dfas.mil. By utilizing ExactTarget software, it is sent to each customer with an active myPay e-mail account.

DFAS officials reported that they had received very favorable feedback to the first edition, which was published Nov. 9, 2005. That edition contained topics such as legislative changes and the end-of-year processing plans. Newsletter recipients also offered suggestions for future topics.

myPay is an automated system that puts the pay recipient in control of processing certain discretionary pay data items without using paper forms. They can also get pay statements, tax forms and information.

Following up on a previous announcement, DFAS officials reported a number of improvements in myPay are being worked, with the finishing touches being put on a feature that will permit retirees and annuitants to receive e-mail confirmation of the changes they make to their pay account when using myPay. This feature will be launched next year.

The latest security enhancement available to myPay users is the ability to change their login identification (ID) along with their personal identification number (PIN). This allows users accessing the system to use their own unique (and easily remembered) login information without relying on their Social Security number to enter myPay.

Users can make these changes by logging into myPay and clicking on Personal Settings Page. Links for changing PINs and Login ID are provided.

DFAS Starts Direct Deposit to Some Foreign Banks

7-30-05 The National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS) reports the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) will start a service allowing direct deposit of retired pay and annuitant benefits to foreign banks in up to 40 countries, starting Aug 1 with the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France and Germany. I expect Korea to be on the list of the additional 35 countries, and I hope it will happen before long. A full article describing implementation of this service is in the August issue of the Still Serving in Korea e-mail newsletter to be available by Aug 5.