OPINION & ORDER Timothy Quinn (“Plaintiff”) brings this Action against the United States of America (“Defendant” or the “Government”) under 26 U.S.C. §7422, seeking to recover $22,274.00 in federal income taxes that he paid to the Government in error. (Compl.
1, 10-11 (Dkt. No. 1).) Before the Court is the Government’s Motion To Dismiss this Action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), (see Not. of Mot. (Dkt. No. 15)), or, in the alternative, for failure to state a claim, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), (see Mem. of Law in Supp. of Gov’t's Mot. To Dismiss (“Gov’t's Mem.”) 7-8 (Dkt. No. 16); Reply Mem. of Law in Further Supp. of Mot. To Dismiss (“Gov’t's Reply”) 1, 6 (Dkt. No. 20)). For the following reasons, the Motion is granted. I. Background A. Factual Background The following facts are drawn from Plaintiff’s Complaint and are taken as true for the purposes of resolving the instant Motion. Plaintiff is a former sergeant in the New York City Police Department. (Compl. 6.) After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Plaintiff was assigned to search for human remains and personal effects among the wreckage from the attacks at the Fresh Kills Landfill in Richmond County, New York. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that the terrorist attacks and his involvement in the subsequent recovery work caused him to develop several serious and debilitating ailments, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, reactive airway disease, anxiety, cardiomyopathy, fatigue, jitteriness, lack of concentration, and memory issues. (Id. 7.) As a result of his medical conditions, Plaintiff was deemed eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) benefits in 2010. (Id. 8.) But because Plaintiff allegedly had become “incapacitated and financially disabled,” he did not realize “that, pursuant to the Tax Relief for Victims of Terrorist Attacks of 2001,” he did not have to include such benefit payments as income on his tax returns. (Id. 9.)1 Accordingly, Plaintiff avers that in 2010 he paid $22,274.00 in taxes that were not owed to the Government. (Id.
