Tallahassee residents say stimulus checks deposited into tax preparer's account, not theirs

April 16, 2020

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) -- Wednesday, dozens of people claimed they were cheated out of their stimulus checks at the hands of a tax service in Tallahassee.

Galaxy Tax is now giving insight into Wednesday's situation, saying it was all a miscommunication and that tax preparers don't have access to stimulus payments.

To read our follow up to this story,

April 15, 2020

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) -- On Wednesday, crowds of customers claiming their stimulus payments are missing lined outside of a Tallahassee tax preparer's office in search of answers.

Tensions and frustrations are extremely high; customers say documents from the IRS show that stimulus checks have already been deposited, but the account the money went to wasn't theirs: It belongs to Galaxy Tax Service in Tallahassee.

Wednesday afternoon, crowds of people stormed Galaxy Tax Service, with documents in hand, trying to talk to the owner.

Several police officers were also on scene, keeping the peace.

Customers say they filed 2019 taxes with Galaxy and tax refunds were routed to the tax service account, which then sent out the checks.

So when the stimulus payments were paid, they went to Galaxy as well.

"It says it's deposited into the account," said Anecia Ash. "People want their money. People have kids, people have different stuff that they need to handle. People are angry; they want their money and they're saying he has nothing to do with it."

The store owner claims the account on their documents isn't associated with the tax service.

WCTV attempted to speak with the owner after the crowds left, but he didn't respond.

The Tallahassee Police Department says it could be several days before they're able to release information and, since this involves the IRS, it may become a federal case.