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Veto of Bill for the Relief of Lucian Roach

August 19, 1958

To the House of Representatives:

I return herewith, without my approval, H. R. 12161, "For the relief of Lucian Roach," doing business as the Riverside Lumber Company.

The bill would direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to Lucian Roach, doing business as the Riverside Lumber Company, Savannah, Tennessee, the sum of $465.81 in full settlement of all claims of Lucian Roach against the United States for refund of taxes erroneously paid by him under the federal Unemployment Tax Act for the years 1942 and 1943.

The records of the Treasury Department disclose that the amount here involved represents a portion of the taxes paid by Mr. Roach under the federal Unemployment Tax Act for the years 1942 and 1943, refund of which is barred by the statute of limitations.

The taxpayer did not make any contributions to the State unemployment fund for the years 1942 and 1943 until 1948, and consequently, did not claim any credit for contributions on his returns for 1942 and 1943. If, within four years after payment of the federal taxes, the taxpayer had made such contributions and had filed a claim for refund, he would have been entitled to a credit against his federal taxes. The taxpayer, however, did not file a claim for refund within four years after the payment of his 1942 and the first half of his 1943 federal taxes.

The record of this case does not warrant special legislative relief from the statute of limitations. The taxpayer had four years in which to file a claim for refund after the amounts here involved had been paid, and the record discloses no extenuating circumstances justifying his failure to file a claim for refund within that period.

Moreover, the amount that this bill would pay to Mr. Roach is greater than the refund to which he would have been entitled had he filed a timely claim for refund.

The granting of special relief in this case, where a refund was not claimed in the time and manner required by law, would constitute a discrimination against other taxpayers similarly situated and would create an undesirable precedent.

Under the circumstances, therefore, I am constrained to withhold my approval of the bill.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Veto of Bill for the Relief of Lucian Roach Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233864

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