On tax overpayment and refunds

March 4, 2009 5:35 AM

TaxFilter: Paid my taxes for 2008, then got a refund check? Did I mess up?

I e-filed my taxes with TurboTax this year, and ended up owing ~$700 federal and ~$300 state. I paid the next day with a direct draw from my bank account (this was early February). Just yesterday, I got a refund check from the U.S. Treasury in the mail for tax overpayment something along the lines of ~$1700. Did I mess up (and overpay), and the Feds just caught my mistake? The number just seems higher than I would have expected...especially since I didn't expect a refund!

Should I be worried?

posted by trokair to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Best answer: That does seem weird. Call the IRS and ask them why you got the check. You'll get one of two answers:

1) "Yup, that's correct. Keep the money!" Best-case scenario, obviously, because you get to keep the money, and you don't have to worry about it going forward.

2) "Whoops, our bad! Send the check back, please." Not so great, but if you're not supposed to have the money, you're going to have to give it back sooner or later, and much better to give it back now then three years down the road after you've already spent it.
posted by EarBucket at 5:45 AM on March 4, 2009

Best answer: It has been my experience that if the IRS finds an error in your tax return, they send you a letter informing you of the error and asking you to correct it.

It sounds like they made a mistake here, but I would definitely call to investigate.
posted by camcgee at 6:16 AM on March 4, 2009

Response by poster: Just called the IRS to check; seems like it was a refund from my 2007 return that got reissued; the original check never arrived. :)

Thanks for the advice folks!
posted by trokair at 6:17 AM on March 4, 2009

Did you properly file for your 2008 stimulus check?
posted by dhartung at 11:40 AM on March 5, 2009