IOWA, USA — In February, Local 5 News reported a data error at the Iowa Department of Revenue resulted in roughly 300 Iowans receiving an incorrect federal tax refund.
An update from IDR shows the final total was more than triple the original assessment. According to an IDR spokesperson, the final total of impacted Iowans was roughly 1,000.
The department says at this point, all of those impacted Iowans have been sent reimbursement checks for any discrepancies.
"I finally received my check," said Rob Andrews. "There was no letter explaining what caused this error. No, sort of, explanation or apology."
While Andrews is relieved to have his roughly $500 back, he's left frustrated by the experience, wishing the department would have had more transparency from the start.
"I'm not sure why they were never forthcoming, why it took the media contacting them to actually put out a press release saying that there was an issue."
A spokesperson with IDR stresses the department initially acknowledged the error, and all the refunds have been issued.