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abcdeathburger t1_jefnn4b wrote

My state sent me a tax refund of less than I was supposed to get. I have no idea if this was a clerical error, but they never sent me a letter explaining any adjustments on why I would be receiving a lesser amount. As a practical matter, is it better to deposit the check and fight them for the remainder or have them void the check and send a replacement for the correct amount? Of course all assuming they ever respond to my contacts on why they're underpaying me...

The other unusual thing is they sent it via check even though I selected DD (and federal + the other state I lived in part of the year sent it via DD). Perhaps more room for clerical error.

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sciguyCO t1_jega2wb wrote

Any refund check you get from the state is going to be considered paid to you, so might as well deposit it. It won't have any major impact on your ability to dispute an adjustment, it'll just be factored into your overall tax situation. If you thought you were due $1200 and they sent you $1000 instead, if you can get that fixed they'll just send the missing $200. You don't have to undo / cancel the "wrong" $1000 check to get the full $1200.

As for why the refund amount changed, that's harder to guess. When did you file? When was your return accepted and refund check sent? Government bureaucracy can sometimes cause communication to lag behind money moving around. I've had explanation letters show up a couple weeks after the check. But if it's been more than a few weeks since you got that lower refund check, that feels like time to start pushing harder on them for answers.

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abcdeathburger t1_jegbzss wrote

I filed sometime in early March, they sent it around March 10. Return was accepted within a couple days (basically immediate business-days-wise, I think I filed over the weekend). All pretty quick. But no letters to explain anything, and no responses to my contact attempts.

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