Disabled vet receives only $2 of nearly $3,000 state refund

ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta man is in the middle of a months-long fight with the state Revenue Department.

He got just $2 so far of his nearly $3,000 tax refund.

Ron Ali told Channel 2 investigative reporter Richard Belcher that he filed his state return in early February and got a check within a couple of weeks.

But it turns out the state had sent virtually all of his money to a charity, which Ali had not authorized.

“This wasn't something where you mistakenly checked the box?” Belcher asked Ali.

“No. Right here is a copy of my return and you can see where, I think it may be line 27, is blank,” Ali said showing Belcher the paperwork.

That line 27 Ali is talking about gives taxpayers an opportunity to share their refund with the fund for children and elderly.

The state offers several such funds. But the 67-year-old disabled veteran did not say "Yes."

It didn't matter. Instead of an expected $2,819 refund, Ali got this $2 check in February.

Ali told Belcher that he’s not going hungry, but “I'm on a fixed income, because, you know, being a disabled veteran. You know it's kind of rough trying to pay my bills.”

Ali got online and started looking for answers on the state Revenue Department's website.

To his surprise, he actually got some live people on the phone and one of them had good news.

“A few days later, an Agent Lee called me and said that she had checked into it and that I was right, and that I was supposed to get back the total amount of $2,819,” Ali said.

Ali said the agent told him it would take 30 days. %

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Now, nearly two months later, his $2,800 in still in the state's bank account. Frustrated, he complained to Channel 2 Action News.

“If they did this to me, then I’m pretty sure that there's plenty of other people out there that they've done it to, but they just don't know how to navigate the system in order to, you know, to get their refund,” Ali told Belcher.

The Revenue Department sent a statement to Belcher saying Ali's situation was due to an isolated internal data entry error, and the issue was addressed as soon as it was brought to the department's attention.

The department says he'll have his check within five business days.

Cox Media Group