What happened at Citi Tax Financial? Sheriff's office has found an explanation

Thursday, April 16, 2020

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) -- A crowd of people anxious about their stimulus checks showed up at a Richmond County tax preparer's office on Wednesday, but the sheriff's office is saying it's all got to do with the IRS and a third-party bank.

According to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, 60-70 people showed up at

Many of the people said they called Citi Tax directly, but could not get anyone on the phone to answer their questions.

Eventually, according to the sheriff's office, Citi Tax's owner said he would be traveling from Atlanta to Augusta to explain what happened.

Deputies eventually spoke to the business' owner, who told them he had received an email from his third-party bank, Refund Advantage, saying they had received stimulus money for many of his clients.

RA told the business owner that he did not have the authority to disperse that money and they were sending the money back to the IRS so the federal government could give these clients their money directly.

Deputies said they verified the information and gave it to the customers who were still in the parking lot. They were also told they could update their addresses on the IRS' website.

The crowd later dispersed without incident.

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As previously mentioned, the hang-up lies between the IRS and Refund Advantage, a third-party company that works between the IRS and tax preparers to help disperse tax refunds and other money to customers.

Refund Advantage released a statement Thursday morning to clarify what happened on their end.

According to the company, the IRS "inadvertently" sent stimulus money for individuals directly into temporary accounts at Refund Advantage. That money, the company says, was not supposed to go into those accounts.

Instead, Refund Advantage says they have returned that money to the IRS

"so they can be distributed directly to the individual."

Refund Advantage says since they have returned stimulus money to the IRS, customers must go through the IRS to make sure their personal information -- such as an address -- is current with the federal government.

That said, RA says after the funds get back to the IRS, it will take them 7-10 business days to have visibility on the money. From there, you'll have to contact the IRS for further details.

However, some of you may see money going to an account you can no longer access.

In other situations, you may see fewer dollars in your account after getting the stimulus.

The coronavirus CARES Act does not prohibit collectors from taking out debts. We found reports of this happening even as far as Chicago.

Also, there could be situations where your tax preparer could pull money to pay for the fee of filing your taxes.

But, most places are against this because they say there's already enough confusion as is.

“Let’s say someone owes me fees and we didn’t get paid from the tax return, we’re not going take that out of the stimulus," Cuylor Leverett at Liberty Tax said. "We’re not going to collect on that. We’re going give them their stimulus money because we know they need it. The best thing a tax preparer can do is get in their office and get open because our phone is ringing off the hook."

Many of you have already seen your stimulus check directly deposited into your bank account. That's because the IRS already had your account information on-hand.

For others, they may be seeing paper checks mailed to them.

As for when you'll receive your money, there is no definite answer. Unfortunately, tax companies are saying we just have to wait.