Free money?

ScottA · May 10, 2011, 04:55:52 PM

I got a check from Uncle Sam today. Looks like a tax refund check but I didn't have a refund comming, I paid them. No explanation, nothing. I checked my tax returns and I can't for the life of me figure out what this is for. Was there a tax break passed by congress after April 15th?

MountainDon · May 10, 2011, 06:09:45 PM

How much? A lot of people apparently have missed claiming the "Making Work Pay Credit. Up to $400 ($800 couple) in 2010. It was also missed by a lot in 2009. I forget if it was the same $$ then.

May 10, 2011, 06:11:41 PM

$439. I use tax software to figure my taxes. Any chance the software goofed?

bayview · May 10, 2011, 06:34:29 PM

Were you asked to cash the check and then send a percentage to someone else?

Did it come in an "official" US Treasury envelope?

A watermark saying "U.S. Treasury" on a legitimate check is embedded in the paper stock and will only be visible by holding the check up to a light.

Maybe someone has stolen your identity for employment. Typically illegal aliens . . . Opps, undocumented workers. . .

/.

ScottA · May 10, 2011, 06:40:13 PM

No one asked me to cash it. It looks real and it was in an official envelope. What's wierd is there was no reason given for the check. I have recived checks before and they always had a statement saying what I had overpaid etc. This one had only the check and nothing else. If I did overpay it has to be from a couple of years back since the current return looks correct. I'm looking for the older returns now.

May 10, 2011, 06:47:45 PM

Quote from: ScottA on May 10, 2011, 06:11:41 PM
$439. I use tax software to figure my taxes. Any chance the software goofed?

line 63 on the 1040 is where the Making Work Pay entry is (taken from schedule M) $$ varies with income level

It messed me up last year; got it right this year

ScottA · May 10, 2011, 06:50:39 PM

Quote from: bayview on May 10, 2011, 06:43:33 PM
This may be of interest . . .

http://www.wbir.com/national/article/162163/16/IRS-Watch-out-for-fake-tax-return-checks

/.

Those people said they had not filed. I did file electronicly and it was accepted and the money I owed was deducted from my bank 3 days later. Still looking.

MountainDon · May 10, 2011, 06:56:27 PM

When the IRS sends out an unexpected refund they also send a letter separate from the check. Their explanation is not very precise, takes some digging to figure it out.

ScottA · May 10, 2011, 06:57:04 PM

I think I may have found it, from 2009 return. I need to refigure the return. Thanks Don

May 10, 2011, 07:30:34 PM

Ok here's what it looks like happened and it's actualy house related, go figure. When I filed my 2009 return I had taken the home buyer tax credit which was promptly rejected. After some hours on the phone with IRS I discovered they wanted all the recipts for the house construction (always save your recipts). When I did the 2009 taxes I had estimated the cost of the house construction but when they made me spend 3 days finding and copying all the recipts I dicovered I had under estimated the cost. That's what I get for being lazy. Actually I was really busy trying to finnish the house and move but that's another story. So anyway I decided to make a new return showing the actual cost of the house which resulted in a larger refund. Well the idiot IRS had sent me a check with a statement saying they had kept the amount of tax I owed from 2009 (doh) but failed to mention they had also withheld my first estimated tax payment for 2010. Well I was really busy at the time and never checked to see if the refund was correct. So it looks like my first estimated tax payment got paid twice so they refunded the extra plus a couple of bucks intrest. Would be alot simpler if they'd tell you what they where doing. What's wierd is I had already paid the estimated tax before they withheld it a second time. Gotta love the IRS.