12 years later, man still awaits refund from IRS

He says he is out $15,180 only because he can't prove he mailed his tax return on time.

By JENNIFER FARRELL

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 4, 2000

SPRING HILL -- Bob Castignoli doesn't want to think about the investments he might have made with the $15,180 if he'd gotten it in 1988, the year he says his refund was due from the Internal Revenue Service.

And after a dozen years, he's tired of telling his story to a seemingly endless line of agents and taxpayer advocates.

All he wants is his money.

But because Castignoli can't prove he mailed his 1987 tax return on time, the IRS has denied his claim. And despite years of inquiries, including efforts on his behalf by U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, D-Dunnellon, Castignoli might never see the refund.

"This is a total injustice," he said last week. "I know I sent it in on time, but how do you prove that?"

The IRS has told Castignoli it has no record of receiving his return in 1988, or any records showing he had tried to contact the agency for a refund within the mandated three-year statute of limitation. Therefore, agents have reasoned, Castignoli has not presented sufficient evidence to merit a successful appeal.

Under the law, he has no claim to the money.

Castignoli said the IRS lost his return and is unwilling to admit making a mistake.

"It's my money," he said. "Just give me what I'm rightfully owed."

Castignoli's problems started in 1988. He says he dropped the tax return in the mail on the April 15 deadline, immediately after picking it up from his accountant's office in Spring Hill.

He became concerned a few months later when the refund had not arrived. Right around that time, Castignoli, who then owned Bob's Community Chevron in Spring Hill, says his health began to deteriorate. Starting in 1987, the 54-year-old suffered problems with his gall bladder that required surgery. After that, he developed a hernia in the incision that would eventually force four more surgeries, the last of which was performed in 1998.

Castignoli said health problems forced him to sell his business, because he was no longer physically able to work as a mechanic. In the meantime, he also went through a divorce, which was finalized in 1991.

All of which, Castignoli says now, distracted him but did not stop him from pursuing his claim with the IRS.

"All I got was a runaround," he said. "They kept saying, "We're reviewing it. We're reviewing it.' "

Then the no-name storm of 1993 blew in.

Castignoli was living in Hernando Beach and had stored all of his records on the ground floor of his home on Casa Court. Flooding there reached as high as his mailbox, Castignoli said, destroying his car as well as all notes and documents relevant to his battle with the IRS.

"Losing those records set him back," said Robert L. Wilson, the certified public accountant who has handled Castignoli's taxes for the past two decades. "He wasn't able to substantiate that within a reasonable period that he had started this search. Between his health, his divorce, the no-name storm, this guy had strike three and four, you're out."

Castignoli argues that common sense dictates he wouldn't have forgotten to file for a refund that amounted to more than $15,000.

"When you're due that kind of money, you don't forget it," he said. "If you owe it, you know damn well they're going to come after you."

But Thurman said the lack of documentation is what has stalled her efforts so far with the IRS.

"It's a time-limit issue, the lack of having evidence," she said.

What has further complicated matters is a copy of the 1987 return that Castignoli sent to the IRS in 1995, according to Wilson.

"In trying to help him, they requested an additional copy of the return," Wilson said last week. "They assumed it was the only one he ever sent in."

That triggered two attempts by the IRS to levy Castignoli's bank accounts in an attempt to collect taxes the agency said went unpaid, according to Wilson, who termed the moves "bizarre."

"They just kept coming after this money at every turn," he said. "I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never seen one this bad. It got down to a ridiculous situation."

Holger Euringer, an IRS spokesman based in Jacksonville, declined to discuss the specifics of Castignoli's case, citing confidentiality requirements.

He dismissed as unlikely the argument that the agency might have lost Castignoli's 1987 return.

"In the big scheme of things, when you're talking about roughly 200-million tax returns coming to the IRS, not many of them get lost," he said.

As a rule, the agency keeps tax return records on microfilm for several years, and the statute of limitation for collection of unpaid taxes is 10 years. When a return is late, Euringer said, the IRS usually sends notice within nine to 18 months, leaving taxpayers sufficient time to claim any possible refund within the three-year window.

Castignoli can see only one explanation for why the IRS has no record of his attempts to get his money, starting in 1988.

"They lost my tax returns," he said. "It's as simple as that."

Jerry Kelly, an attorney in Bethesda, Md., who specializes in tax litigation, said he's not surprised by Castignoli's story.

"There are so many cases out there like this," he said Friday. "They lose things all the time."

Kelly, a former IRS revenue officer, said Castignoli's only hope would be for Congress to draft a private bill to address his complaint, or to add a narrowly drawn amendment to the next tax bill.

Both options are unlikely, according to Thurman.

"It's his word against theirs," Kelly said. "What we tell our clients is if you have a return with a big refund, send it certified mail."

Then-wife Melanie Castignoli. who was questioned by the IRS, has said she believed he sent in the return on time and supports him in his effort.

Thurman vowed Thursday to keep trying.

"I don't know if there is any end in sight," she said. "The only thing we can do is keep on the IRS to keep looking at this."

For Castignoli, who owns three office complexes on Deltona Boulevard, the struggle is about more than just money. "I'm doing this out of principle because I'm right," he said.

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