Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from the IRS. “We show that you have overpaid your form 1040 for the tax period ending Dec. 31, 2021, by $3,717.62. You’ll receive a refund within 6 to 8 weeks if you owe no other taxes.”
What makes this interesting is that I went to my bank’s web site and found a deposit for $3,717.62 made by the IRS on Nov 23, 2022. I’m a terrible bookkeeper, and I expect somewhere in the impenetrable pile of papers (I’m good at not throwing things out) is a letter about the earlier payment.
I wonder which will be worse. Calling the phone number provided, or sending them a paper letter.
With the two numbers exactly the same, down to the penny, I don’t think they meant someone else!
And somehow having the IRS unhappy with me isn’t an option I care to think about.
A bit of digging in that pile of paper turned up a note from the IRS, dated about a week before that first payment into the bank account. It said they had my amended return and would act on it soon. Do I remember filing an amended return? Nope. When that note arrived I tried to find out about it in TurboTax. I have used that (and nothing else) for years. I gave up fighting with it pretty quickly, but I never did find what I expected - an original and an amended.
I phoned. Going through the phone maze. Got to a person pretty quickly. On hold while they check it out.
Yeah, as you expect, I screwed up. Thanks to the nice lady on the phone, and some jogging of my memory… When that “accepted your amended return” notice came, and I couldn’t find that I had filed one, I panicked and sent the money back. They have now double checked, and are paying me again (with interest).
