IRS payments that aren't stimulus checks or tax refunds?

Post date: 2021-05-08 04:33:23

A good friend received a payment from the IRS on May 1. She's already received the three stimulus payments and her tax refund, so she's confused. IRS customer service wasn't super helpful. Any ideas?

A friend of mine is a little bit hippie and she's off in another country as a volunteer pastor. As you might imagine, she doesn't earn a lot of money.

She received her first US IRS stimulus payment ($1200) roughly on time, the second stimulus payment ($600) very belatedly this January, and the third stimulus payment ($1400) on time in April. She also received a small tax refund in April. Then, on May 1 she received another $600 payment from the IRS.

That's one too many payments -- three stimulus checks and a tax refund, sure, but not another check beyond that.

I gave her the IRS customer service number and she called, but the person she reached wouldn't discuss individual bank accounts or specifics with her. The customer service person apparently said something about the poverty line and my friend maybe getting extra money due to that.

There's no children in the picture. My friend is fairly certain all five transactions (three stimulus payments, refund, mystery) came from the normal IRS account info.

My friend, understandably, is very hesitant to spend this windfall if the money will be taken away once the IRS determines it was a mistake. Any advice on how to proceed - particularly the magic code words to talk to the IRS - would be welcome!

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