7 On Your Side gets kidney donor $11K tax refund check after name mistake
MELVILLE, NEW YORK (WABC) -- There is a little over a month left to submit your 2024 taxes, but a woman on Long Island was caught in the middle of a 2023 tax nightmare.
When her mother's check shows up with a major typo and can't be deposited, she called 7 On Your Side.
"This is my mom and my dad. I think my mom was 18 and my father was 22," Debra said.
Debra's mother, Myrna Hoffman, is a pioneer of her generation. She was one of the few women in the 1950s who worked, dressing the Huntington's ladies who lunch set out of her boutique.
"She was social, she was athletic, she was a good cook, she had her own business. And that all sort of started melting away," Debra said.
Suffering from dementia, her mind was not the same, but she still has her identity and is still entitled to her 2023 tax refund check.
"So, my mother got a check from the United States Treasury, but the check had the percent sign and her first name, no last name," she said.
Unable to cash the refund, the dutiful daughter has been trying for months to get the typo changed to her 92-year-old mom's full name, but is having 0% luck.
"When I finally did get in touch with someone, they told me it would be 30 days, and then you'll get a new check, and then that didn't happen," Debra said.
Month after month the $11,000 check has been in limbo.
"Then my mom took sick, and now the money is dwindling," Debra said. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't know that. You know, the United States Treasury would make a mistake such as that without a person's last name on it."
7 On Your Side contacted the IRS to cut the red tape and recut the check. Finally, one typo free, 100% correct check was made out to Myrna Hoffman.
"Nina, look what I got. I'm just so excited, and, you know, it was so stressful, and now I can feel good again," Debra said. "Thank you so much for all your time, your effort, staying by my side, and helping me get through this difficult time in our lives."
Debra is not done helping her family. Thursday morning, she is donating a kidney to her younger sister Caasi at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
ALSO READ: 7 On Your Side helps 2-time cancer survivor get college tuition refund
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