When your refund is stolen…
What can you do if your tax refund is stolen? According to the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA), this happens to tens of thousands of taxpayers each year.
The NTA offers steps to take and warns that recovering a stolen refund is a slow process. If you were expecting your refund by direct deposit and it was improperly diverted to another account, you must wait 26 days from the date the IRS received your tax return to contact the agency.
If you were expecting a paper refund check, you must wait six weeks from the date the refund was issued. After the waiting time, file IRS Form 3911 (Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund) to request a refund trace. Click here for more details.