This time of year, many Connecticut residents are keeping a close eye on their mailboxes for that all-important tax refund. But what do you do if it doesn’t show up?
When Katherine Asselin realized she hadn’t seen her return after filing early, she said she was beyond frustrated with her bank.
“It’s incredibly upsetting,” Asselin said.
The Danbury resident waited for her $1900 tax refund to appear in her Bank of America account.
She reviewed her refund documents and discovered on her tax form, she had mixed up two numbers on her checking account.
“I’m kicking myself,” Asselin said. “I realize, it’s my mistake. I own that. I fully understand that.”
Asselin went on IRS.gov and checked their refund tracker. The service indicated the refund was deposited, except it wasn’t put into her bank account.
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“I don’t know where it went at that point. I had no idea whose account it went in to,” Asselin said.
She called her bank where a representative told her to call the IRS. The IRS pointed her back to the bank.
“I’ve spent numerous hours on the phone with Bank of America with the IRS trying to track it down to see what my options are,” Asselin said.
Asselin said a bank employee told her the money went into someone else’s account.
The bank said it did what she told them to do.
A Bank of America spokesperson told NBC Connecticut Responds:
“The bank does not have the authority to reverse transactions that were performed correctly according to the instructions of the sender.”
If the account number Asselin entered was invalid, the bank would have rejected the deposit and returned the money to the IRS, which would then cut her a paper check.
“It’s unfortunate that this person hasn’t come forward and said something about it, because in that case Bank of America would be able to do something,” Asselin said.
The IRS initiated a trace on her refund, but it told her that could take months.
At this point, Asselin just wants her money.
“Those are my taxes,” Asselin said. “I worked really hard for that.”
Asselin said she’s planning to file a police report while the IRS tracks down her tax return.
