My tax refund check has my sister's name on it

Question

What can I do. It has her name on it, but all of my tax payer ID information. I know that it is not hers because she lives out of the country.

Can I deposit it?

Answer 1

Check your Tax Payer ID information stored in the tax department because you may have some mistake in what you have in your hand and what is stored in there database.

Answer 2

No, you must return it.  It sounds like your sister filed a tax return using YOUR SSN!  You need to contact both her and the IRS to get this resolved.

Answer 3

You need to take a serious look at your tax return.  For this to happen there had to be a serious mistake, yours or the IRS.  Don't cash or deposit the check.  Once you have reviewed the return and made sure that you didn't make a mistake call the IRS ASAP.  If you can't get through call the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) at 1-877-777-4778  

Answer 4

Take the check and a copy of your return to your local IRS office and have someone there sort it out.  Do not cash the check.

Answer 5

Does it actually have your social security number on it?  Or did your sister file a tax return and have the check sent to your address because she lives out of the country?

Check with your sister to find out if you have similar social security numbers.  Look at your tax return to verify that you filed with the correct social security number.  Did numbers get mixed up, transposed or misread somewhere along the way?  If you have the same numbers, but one ends in 7 and one ends in 9, someone could have entered the number wrong - you, her, the tax preparer, the IRS...