This came up in a Facebook group on military retirement and transition. Someone mentioned they got a $10k moving allowance, but the stipulation was that they stay a year, which they didn't do. They paid taxes on the allowance, so let's say they pocketed $8k, for the sake of easy math.
When they quit >12 months later, they had to repay the incentive, which meant writing a $10,000 check to the employer. So they lost $2k on the transition.
Is there a way around this? Is there something they could have done differently? Would it matter if the incentive was received and returned in the same tax year versus across years?
(Mostly asking because I know we have many tax-smart people and I'm curious. This was several years ago so the person wasn't seeking advice. Just posting a cautionary tale.)
