IRS Tax Refunds going wrong places again.

[presley]

Keep a close eye on your tax returns again this year.

A woman that I volunteer with (she works for DOD) said she looked online for the date she could expect her refund and saw it was already issued and instead of going to her, it went to back child support pay. She has no children. The IRS told her she has to take it up with the DOD. She was alerted last year that all her information was leaked (in the big government leak) and she did everything she was told to do. Now, she has to prove that she doesn't have any children. It's the weirdest thing. She barely makes it pay check to paycheck and this is going to take months to straighten out.

 

[Passepartout]

your title is misleading. It should read 'refunds', not 'returns'. Tax returns are what we send to IRS.

The best solution is to not have more withheld than we owe. That way we are not giving Uncle an interest-free loan. As a bonus your paycheck is a tiny bit bigger.

Jim

 

[presley]

your title is misleading. It should read 'refunds', not 'returns'. Tax returns are what we send to IRS.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll change it.

 

[PamMo]

Unfortunately, tax refund fraud is on the rise at state and local levels, too. My accountant says they get new alerts daily. The scammers continue going after information in new and creative ways. I guess stealing our ID's through government, health, banking, and other big institutions wasn't enough...

www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Consumers-...ng-2016-Tax-Season-Tax-Industry-Also-Targeted

 

[Passepartout]

Stealing money continues to be an easier way of getting it than working., And judging by the lack of penalties on banking institutions, virtually without risk.

Jim

 

[DeniseM]

Just to clarify - there is a good chance that the OP's friend's tax refund was stolen - not just an error. That happened to us last year.

There are specific steps to take and forms to complete to resolve this. You can google it, or ask your tax preparer for help.

 

[SmithOp]

Interesting new wrinkle, but child support intercepts go to the CA Dept of Child Support Services (DCSS). I know, I worked on their IT system for 7 years. They can intercept tax returns and block DMV license and registrations.

I would advise her to visit the local DCSS office, they can look up to see if a case is assigned to her SSN and they can see all payments and collections. Someone may have used her SSN to evade CS. She should take a picture ID and SSN card.

Sent from my STUDIO ENERGY using Tapatalk

 

[presley]

I would advise her to visit the local DCSS office, they can look up to see if a case is assigned to her SSN and they can see all payments and collections. Someone may have used her SSN to evade CS. She should take a picture ID and SSN card.

Thanks. I'll pass that info along to her.

 

[dioxide45]

Interesting new wrinkle, but child support intercepts go to the CA Dept of Child Support Services (DCSS). I know, I worked on their IT system for 7 years. They can intercept tax returns and block DMV license and registrations.

I would advise her to visit the local DCSS office, they can look up to see if a case is assigned to her SSN and they can see all payments and collections. Someone may have used her SSN to evade CS. She should take a picture ID and SSN card.

Sent from my STUDIO ENERGY using Tapatalk

This sounds like the most likely scenario, someone using the friends SSN to evade child support. It doesn't seem like tax refund fraud. The friend filed for and was issued a refund, it just got rerouted due to the CS fraud.

 

[Timeshare Von]

We mailed our (yes USPS snail mail) on 2/6/16 and the EFT of our refund hit the bank account yesterday. YEAH!

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

Back in 2000, I filed electronically and requested electronic deposit to my bank account. The IRS had a computer glitch that caused my refund to be deposited into someone else's account. It took me 8 months to get the IRS to resolve the issue. Since then, we have not used electronic deposit. Except this year. We'll see how that goes.