My Tax Refund was stolen

[ashton313]

I live in Georgia, the person who prepared my taxes had the return deposited to his personal account. After weeks of tracing it, he has admitted to taking the money and said there's nothing I can do about it. I sent several request with the IRS and they are awaiting response from Synovus Bank which is where the funds were deposited. From there, it was mailed to him on a Turbo Tax card. How do I go about retrieving the funds and filing a police report?

 

[Banned_Princess]

I live in Georgia, the person who prepared my taxes had the return deposited to his personal account. After weeks of tracing it, he has admitted to taking the money and said there's nothing I can do about it. I sent several request with the IRS and they are awaiting response from Synovus Bank which is where the funds were deposited. From there, it was mailed to him on a Turbo Tax card. How do I go about retrieving the funds and filing a police report?

You go to the police, to file a report. duh.

 

[ashton313]

How do I get my money back is my MAIN concern?

 

[davew128]

Most people call the police on the telephone. Perhaps in Georgia they use smoke signals?

 

[Zigner]

How do I get my money back is my MAIN concern?

Contact the police to file the police report. Sue the bad guy for your money. You can do these things concurrently.

 

[davew128]

Actually the appropriate agency to contact is TIGTA as stealing a tax refund is a crime against the revenue laws and falls under their jurisdiction.

However the other responses are correct with regards to getting the money back.

Do not expect the IRS to simply give you a refund. Much would depend on the manner the preparer stole the refund. Did you sign the return showing his bank account info or did he change it before e-filing?

I would also caution ANYONE against using a paid preparer who uses TurboTax.

 

[LdiJ]

Actually the appropriate agency to contact is TIGTA as stealing a tax refund is a crime against the revenue laws and falls under their jurisdiction.

However the other responses are correct with regards to getting the money back.

Do not expect the IRS to simply give you a refund. Much would depend on the manner the preparer stole the refund. Did you sign the return showing his bank account info or did he change it before e-filing?

I would also caution ANYONE against using a paid preparer who uses TurboTax.

There is a professional version of TurboTax. I think that the more important thing is to never use a preparer who doesn't sign the return with their own name and PTIN number.

 

[tranquility]

There is a professional version of TurboTax.

What is it? ProSeries and Lacerte are both also owned by Intuit and are in their "ProLine" series of software, but I'd hardly call either a "version" of TurboTax since each was purchased from others.

I agree with davew128, "TurboTax" does not inspire confidence in a paid preparer or treasury secretary.

 

[LdiJ]

What is it? ProSeries and Lacerte are both also owned by Intuit and are in their "ProLine" series of software, but I'd hardly call either a "version" of TurboTax since each was purchased from others.

I agree with davew128, "TurboTax" does not inspire confidence in a paid preparer or treasury secretary.

Years ago TurboTax had a "Pro" version, because I used it a couple of years. I hated it, but it was my most viable option at the time. I mistakenly assumed that they still had it.

My opinion of TurboTax can be summed up by the following:

I can do a return by hand and get an answer.
I can do the same return on our firm's current software (Drake, which I adore) and get the same answer.
I can do the same return on TurboTax and get a completely different answer, and spend hours of frustration trying to make it give the correct answer...sometimes without ever prevailing.

However the main point that I was making is that someone should never let a "friend" do their taxes, or use a preparer who sends the return through as "self prepared" instead of signing it and using their PTIN.

 

[ecmst12]

I'm suspecting this was not a professional as well...