IRS refunded too much into my direct deposit! What do I do?

[icymist]

I've been over the booklet the forms came with and can't find anything about reporting a refund error. I'm at the irs.gov site right now in another window. Suggestions for what I should look for?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. It wouldn't hurt to call the 800# and speak directly to a representative.

Record his/her name and carefully write down whatever they tell you to do and keep the note for a record.

[icymist]

22. I just found the customer service number....

it was buried through three links in their FAQs. The paper form was useless in finding this. Thanks for your response.

[ejpoeta]

2. could you call the irs? i'd ask my sister who works at the IRS but she is in boston right now

doing something training or something?? but isn't there a number you could call to ask?? don't want to get caught with too much refund!!

[ecstatic]

3. They'll probably pull it without you even doing anything

I personally would never voluntarily give them my account number.

[jillan]

4. I would take that money and put it into a savings account - not use it.

It could be they found a mistake made by you. But if it was their error, they have every right to take it...I *think* up to 5 years.

[Oregone]

12. I would purchase derivatives against the mortgage market instead

Then you could triple your money in no time

[Statistical]

18. Now that made me laugh!

It is essentially what Goldman Sachs got to do right. Take taxpayer money at no interest. Leverage it up make lots of profits of of it, pay out massive bonuses and then "return it to the govt.

Maybe this is trickle down bailouts?

[jillan]

23. lol! Great response!

[Oregone]

5. Buy pot with the extra

If a case agent contacts you about the discrepency, send half your stash

[Wilber_Stool]

6. I would call the local

Social Security office and see if they could help.

[CountAllVotes]

7. call them on the telephone

and tell them what happened. It may well be your money to have. There were tax breaks that came in to many working Americans this past year. Perhaps you are one of them. :shrug:

:kick:

[wryter2000]

CountAllVotes could be right

I overpaid one year, and a few months later I got a check from them. It looked like junk mail, and I almost threw it away.

[activa8tr]

8. IF you can't find a phone number to call to speak to a human,

Try the USPS thing called "mail", and send them a letter, with a copy of your income tax forms, and a description of the deposit to your account, together with your home or cell phone number.

Offer to write a check for the overpayment as soon as they contact you.

[rfranklin]

9. That's the Obama refund...

They are secretly withdrawing funds from Goldman Sachs and redistributing it to deserving Democrats....pass the word!

[Oregone]

15. Its only fair after Goldman Sachs stole middle class wealth and donated it to his campaign

[LiberalAndProud]

38. Corporations did not, legally, contribute directly to Obama's campaign.

Those contributions came from employees of Goldman Sachs. It is a fine point, but an important one.

Some (dare I say many?) of those employees are likely not in the million dollar bonus category, you know what I mean?

[Oregone]

42. They donated with money they were paid; money defrauded from the American people

:)

If the distinction is important to you, so be it. But its odd when an entire industry's employees so kindly and consistently donate to political campaigns. Its almost as if they are all political activists, or they realize (or are told) that such a show of contribution has some type of bearing upon the lucrative nature of their job. You think they give a damn about Obama funding national parks, or is their hope that his policies enhance their company's bottom line (and therefore, their paycheck/bonus)?

[Blue-Jay]

10. Ham.

Buy a nice ham.

[wryter2000]

11. I'd call them

They lost a record of my check last year and sent me a bill for the money. I called and got it cleared up very quickly. They're quite cordial. They'll probably arrange to send you a bill for the extra amount.

:hi:

[lazarus]

13. Collect $200

[handmade34]

14. I would call a rep

first double check to be positive it was their fault... not good to open up a can of worms if not necessary. That being said, I would return money asap if it truly is a mistake on their part.

[BlooInBloo]

16. Put it some place it makes interest. If they end up taking it back, you still have the interest.

[gmoney]

17. Check your return -- might be that tax credit

Did you claim that one time $800 credit that folks got to offset the lowered withholding? I've heard that the IRS is crediting that even if the person did NOT remember to claim it on their return.

[joeybee12]

19. Have you considered it's the RIGHT amount and you made a mistake on the form?

Call and find out.

[FarCenter]

20. Did you receive any letter from them?

Maybe they found an error on your return and recalculated your taxes.

Did you claim the making work pay credit?

[donco6]

21. The ONLY way is to call.

I have to all the time with payroll issues. They're pretty quick and easy, IMO.

[MiniMe]

24. Whatever you do, don't spend it, they will want their money back

Even if they tell you it is right, don't spend it. They will want it back.

[NNN0LHI]

25. Unless it was some crazy amount it means you probably goofed up your return and they caught it

If the IRS actually did make a mistake they will take the money back out of the account so don't spend it all just yet.

If it was a math error on your part and they caught and fixed it you should get an explanation in the mail within a week or so.

Thats the way I would handle this.

Don

[myrna minx]

26. *Wink wink* comrade. It's the super secret socialist wealth redistribution

handout for we special loyalists. :D

[icymist]

27. Okay people. I'm calling them. I'll let you know what happened.

eom

[Rex]

28. Why do you say that? Did they send you back more money then you thought

you would get or you know it is an error?

[Rob H.]

29. Same thing happened to me--or so I thought

Turns out I'd filled out my return incorrectly and was entitled to an additional $400. The recording will tell you what the IRS did (at least it did when I called them to find out what to do).

[Blue Diadem]

30. Did you fill out the making work pay credit schedule? If you didn't they may have caught it.

I know someone who didn't fill it out and the IRS caught it and they received a larger refund.

[Rob H.]

39. ^That's exactly what happened to me

Glad to see I'm not the only one who made that mistake. :blush:

[Xithras]

31. Do NOT move the money! Call the IRS now!

This happened to my mom about 10 years ago. She had a direct deposit into her checking account, they deposited too much money, so she moved it to savings (expecting a letter). A couple of days later the IRS apparently caught the mistake themselves, and reversed the entire transaction by removing her deposit from her checking account. Please don't tell me that they're not supposed to do that...I've heard people say for years that they're not supposed to do it that way...guess what...they are the IRS, they do what they want, and they did it anyway. They re-deposited the correct amount only a few moments later, but the required clearing time for the deposit means that her account became badly overdrawn, and she had a number of checks bounce. When she called the IRS to complain, they at first claimed to have no idea what she was talking about, but she was eventually connected to someone who was able to look the whole thing up. His statement? "If you knew the deposit was in error, you shouldn't have touched it. You created the problem by moving the money." They never gave her a penny of compensation, despite her racking up nearly $150 in bounced check charges and overdraft fees.

Your best bet is to find the phone number of your nearest IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center and explain the situation to them. They'll either transfer you directly, or give you instructions on the proper way to handle it. Whatever you do, don't touch that money until they determine how they will be expecting repayment.

[Forkboy]

32. I hear that Bora Bora is a beautiful place to live.

[TheCowsCameHome]

33. Send me the overage, and wait for my reply

It'll be postmarked "Tahiti"

[eShirl]

34. How much too much?

[librechik]

35. They probably just adjusted your return with their own math

I wouldn't worry about it, unless it's an amount you can't repay under any circumstances. Document what happened so you can show the evidence to an auditor, but I doubt it's a problem.

[RedCloud]

36. have you ever thought how IRS rhymes with icymist? That explains it!

Clearly you won some kind of unannounced poetry contest.

[icymist]

40. LOL!

i get the gist
of the irs
says little icymist

[icymist]

37. Okay. They said that it's my money and they intentionally changed it.

A letter of explanation was mailed out the same day. I'm not touching it until I get that letter in my hand. The telephone menu was even more confusing than the web site, if that's possible! They give no option in reporting a refund error (like they don't make errors) and I had to try several wrong options (missing refund, damaged refund(this was the one), refund status) before finally stumbling on the right selection! There was no option to talk to a human except after finding what I needed to know. Wow!

I want to thank everyone for responding to this so fast and helping. :hi:

[Cali_Democrat]

41. Put it in a Money Market account or high yield savings (online) account

To be fair there is no such things as high yield savings right now with interest rates being so low. However, you could still make some money off of it. If interest rates do climb in the near future, you could make some good money!

Wait a few months/years to see if they ask for it back. If they do, just return the principal and keep the interest you collected. If they don't ask for it back, free money for you!

Either way it's a win win situation.

Congrats. :thumbsup:

[Dr.Phool]

43. Send it to that nice man in Nigeria.

He'll multiply it 10 times. Then give the IRS their share back.

[say_hello]

44. Ha Ha

Just got an spam mail from Nigeria asking for a donation.

[Politicalboi]

45. Look for the deed with your

40 Acres. Shhhhhhhh! Pass it on. All Dems are getting reparations..

[defendandprotect]

46. Might have something to do with your claiming too few reductions?

Unless you're alking about a half million or something?

If it's a couple of hundred, wait and check with them on why --

You might also get a letter from them explaining the increase?

Good luck!