The state tax refund foul-up in January that gave 32,423 Georgians more than $12 million before taking the money back has cost the state at least $49,633.
The state Department of Revenue paid $20,972 in overdraft fees to cover taxpayers who spent their refunds, only to discover they had been taken away leaving them with overdrawn accounts. Many banks forgave their customers' fees after realizing what happened, but some did not and negotiations about canceling remaining overdraft fees are ongoing, according to department documents.
Other charges as of Feb. 28 include $21,927 to get letters out to those affected, and the state paid $6,733 in fees to Bank of America for sending out, rescinding and then redepositing the refunds.
Documents show that the department had to temporarily expand its customer phone operations.
It is unclear if those responsible for the error, who are state employees, received any discipline.
"As a matter of policy, the department does not comment on personnel-related matters," wrote spokesman Reg Lansberry in a reply to the question.
Newly appointed Tax Commissioner Douglas MacGinnitie was out of town and could not be reached Tuesday.
"I personally think that whoever did that should be fired. I would be fired if I did that," said Bill Nemeth, the president of the Georgia Association of Enrolled Agents, a trade group for tax preparation experts.
"But that is not the way government works."
The department sent out the tax refunds Thursday, Jan. 20, then realized a "computer error" had caused $633,000 in overpayments to some of the recipients. Lansberry declined to clarify what the computer error was.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked for documents under the state Open Records Act, which show that a change in tax law was at the base of the problem. Beginning in 2010 Georgia no longer allowed taxpayers to claim the state Low Income Credit, which gave residents who earn less than $20,000 a year $26 to $52 in refunds to offset state sales taxes. The department's Information Technology Division made computer programming changes to reflect the difference, but the credits were added back in the refunds by another part of the computer system.
The department became aware of the error the day it sent the refunds and began acting immediately to rescind the deposits. However, the process took days to show up in some cases, and the department did not communicate the looming problem to recipients.
MacGinnitie said in January they thought they had it resolved and did not realize the problems caused until taxpayers began flooding the department with calls.
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