Laura Schultz was expecting to hear from the IRS. After all, the Denver-area house cleaner owed the IRS about $80. But when she opened up a letter from the IRS, it wasn’t quite what she was expecting: a refund check for $122,783.51.
Schultz felt that it was a mistake – and it was. She called the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and they told her to destroy the check, which she did.
Of course, I know what you’re thinking: why didn’t she just keep the check? Because she knew better. I’ve gotten this call more than once from a client. The IRS always figures it out eventually (it’s pretty hard to misplace more than $100,000 for long) and you’re then stuck with repaying the principal plus interest. And trust me, that’s not a letter that you want to get…
I’d love to know if the person/system that issued the check ever gets reprimanded?
I dunno, that’s a great question. My gut is yes.