My accountant put the wrong account number on my tax return and my refund went into someone else's account. What responsibility does the bank have in returning the money to the state department of revenue? What are the necessary steps to get my refund put into my account?
Untitled
The bank is only obligated to return the payment if it notices a name/account number mismatch. Because most electronic deposits, which is how your refund was processed, are handled without individual examination by the receiving banks, the chances are remote that the bank will discover the error unless its depositor sees the mistake and informs the bank. Some people would call a bank's attention to such an unexpected apparent windfall.
You or your accountant should contact your state revenue department to determine your next move. If the refund is returned by the bank, the revenue department will probably issue you a check without action on your part, but there's no guarantee that will happen, so you need to take action yourself. You should never assume that your tax return is accurate just because an accountant completed it. Mistakes happen, and you are ultimately responsible for those errors.
BankingQuestions.com is a free service made possible by the generous support of our advertisers. Advertisers are not responsible for site content. Please help us keep BankingQuestions.com FREE by supporting our advertisers. When you see an ad for a product or service you may have an interest in, click through to learn more.
Accounts
Article
Q&A
Podcast
Video
Blog
Discussions
PDF
Powerpoint
The bank is only obligated to return the payment if it notices a name/account number mismatch. Because most electronic deposits, which is how your refund was processed, are handled without individual examination by the receiving banks, the chances are remote that the bank will discover the error unless its depositor sees the mistake and informs the bank. Some people would call a bank's attention to such an unexpected apparent windfall.