Gary Farris’s tax refund wasn’t sent to the IRS. The tax preparer quickly fixed it after KENS 5 got involved. The IRS explains what other taxpayers can do.
SAN ANTONIO — Gary Farris was getting worried about his tax return.
The Farris family had used the same tax preparer, Rapid Tax on 8052 Midcrown Drive, for more than 10 years. This year, something was different.
Farris’s refund didn’t show up in the normal 2-3 weeks. After a month, he started reaching out to the business but couldn’t get a response. He did get one email around 45 days later that said someone would look into the matter, but he never got a call back. Farris said it just wasn’t normal.
“The main thing is I just don’t want to have no problems with the IRS,” Farris said. “If they didn’t turn it in, I’m late.”
After around two months of contacting the business, and not getting a call back, he called KENS 5.
“I didn’t know where to go from here,” Farris said.
KENS 5 started making calls and soon learned that the Rapid Tax at 8052 Midcrown Drive was owned by a different person than the other Rapid Tax location in San Antonio. KENS 5 eventually tracked down that owner’s cell phone number and gave her a call.
The owner then looked into the issue and found out their employee had not actually sent Farris’s file to the IRS. She corrected the issue and sent KENS 5 a statement:
“Upon researching Mr. Farris’s return, I found his paperwork and the return had not been filed as it should have been. I verified the tax return was done correctly. I did let Mr. Farris know yesterday that his return had been electronically filed with IRS. I’m going to refund Mr. Farris his tax preparation fees due to the return not being filed in a timely manner.”
Getting help from the IRS
KENS 5 also contacted the IRS to find out what other taxpayers can do if they have an issue filing their taxes or getting a tax refund.
IRS Public Affairs Specialist Yviand Serbones said tax payers have several options to find out what is happening with their tax return.
First, tax payers can call 800-829-1040 to make sure their tax return has been filed and get other simple information about their return.
“It’s very important that they confirm if their return was filed so they can go from there,” Serbones said.
Secondly, if a person is worried their taxes may have been filed incorrectly, or thinks their tax preparer has done something wrong, they person can set up an in-person appointment with the IRS.
Call 844-545-5640 is to schedule an appointment at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. Serbones told KENS 5 those centers will be able to tackle more complicated questions and will be able to help a tax payer make a complaint about a tax preparer.
“They can then file the correct forms to file a complaint if they think that their tax preparer did not offer the services they should have or made a mistake that the IRS needs to look into,” Serbones said.
Serbones said the IRS may be able to forgive certain fines or late fees if the issue was created by the tax preparer. Serbones also told KENS 5 that a person would typically not owe any fine for filling taxes late as long as they did not owe the IRS money.
If a person does owe taxes to the IRS, or if the return is several years late, there could still be fines.
Serbones told KENS 5 most refunds are provided in three weeks. She said there are several red flags that could could mean problems for your tax return. Contact the IRS if you have any of the following problems.
Red flags:
- Your tax preparer asked you to sign off on a return before everything was filled in.
- Your tax refund was smaller than what the tax preparer put on paper.
- The tax preparer added extra fines or fees that reduced your refund.
- The tax preparer suggested that a customer have their refund sent to the preparer’s bank account first.
- Your refund doesn’t show up and the tax preparer stops communicating with you.
Serbones said you can also check your tax preparer’s credentials if you suspect they did something incorrect.
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.