The holidays were a little brighter for Fran and her family. Fran, is a widowed mother of two. She is currently unable to maintain a job due to severe migraines and is living solely on her family’s survivor benefits from the death of her husband.
Fran came to Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas looking for assistance with her taxes. She had filed her taxes through our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program last year and had not received her Kansas Homestead Refund yet. After no luck with the IRS, she came back to our office. Fran was unable to check the status of her claim online because it the system reported no claim existed. Amy was unable to file a new claim because the system said a claim had already been filed. She was frustrated and confused.
Our Program Specialist and Fran called the IRS again were able to get an access number to allow her to file a new claim online. IRS representative assured our Program Specialist and Fran there would be no penalty for late filing. We filed her 2016 Kansas Homestead tax online. Several days later Fran called the IRS to check the status. She was informed they had received the claim, but it had been rejected because it was filed to late.
Our Program Specialist spoke with a Kansas Tax payer Advocate and explained the situation. The Kansas Tax Payer Advocate was able to override the denial and approved the claim for approval. In addition, our Program Specialist referred Fran to our Food Pantry, Thanksgiving program, and Christmas adoption program. Our Program Specialist continues to meet with Fran and they are discussing employment options as she works with her doctor to find relief from her migraines.
