A La Mesa family didn’t receive their 2014 tax refund because they said an error on their return led to the money being deposited into the wrong account.
Today more and more people are filing their taxes online. This generally allows for a faster refund but it can also be easier to make a mistake.
As Tami Fitzpatrick found, some mistakes are not easy to resolve.
Tami said she has been doing her family's taxes for years using the popular software TurboTax. She said it usually takes her three or four days. But, when she filed her 2014 tax return, Tami said something wasn’t right with the refund she was expecting.
“I hope you can help me get the money back,” Tami said.
Two months after filing her taxes, Tami said she didn't have her refund. When she checked with the bank, she said she learned her refund of $2,817 had been deposited but not into her account.
“I put the wrong account number (on my tax return),” Tami said.
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Tami said she realized the account number she gave to the IRS belonged to somebody else.
While Tami gave the wrong account number, her name was correct. She banks with Chase. Due to Tami’s mistake, the company deposited the money into that wrong account she provided to the IRS.
Chase told NBC 7 Responds that according to industry standards they can "rely solely on the account number regardless if the name on the request is different than the name on the receiving account."
“We exhausted our resources so that’s why we contacted you,” Tami said.
A Chase spokesperson said, by the time they tried to retrieve Tami's money, it had already been withdrawn from the account and there was nothing they could do, leaving Tami without her money.
Representatives of TurboTax say it's a sad lesson to learn.
“Whether you took your taxes to someone and gave them those numbers, or did your taxes yourself, you would have to make sure that you take down the right numbers,” said Lisa Greene-Lewis with Turbo Tax.
In an email, Suzanne Alexander, Executive Director of Media Relations for J.P. Morgan Chase told NBC 7 Responds, “Chase applied the IRS refund to the account according to the instructions we received from the IRS. According to NACHA operating rules, which govern ACH transfers like the one here, we may rely solely on the account number regardless if the name on the request is different than the name on the receiving account. While we processed a recall request from the IRS for the funds, they had already been withdrawn and there weren't sufficient funds remaining in the account to fulfill the request. We encourage all customers to verify that they have used the correct account number before proceeding with a transfer."
