They wrote the wrong amount on a tax check — it nearly cost them $30,000 and got them fined by the IRS

Getting a head start on your IRS tax filing is always a good idea to avoid a last-minute rush but a Bay Area couple that attempted to pay their estimated tax debt for next year early wound up with a major headache. It all started with a simple clerical error on the check they sent to the IRS.

The Livermore couple calculated that they would owe $3,360 in 2025, not due until Tax Day 15 April 2026. However, while that amount was written numerically in the designated box on the check they sent, they incorrectly wrote “Thirty-three thousand + 60 dollars” on the ‘Pay to the order of’ line.

An innocent mistake, ‘thousand’ versus ‘hundred’ thanks to the quirks of English numbers, that could happen to anybody. But it resulted in $661 penalty from the federal tax agency for Joy and Kenneth Hays.

The couple has been trying to resolve the situation but they haven’t been able to get through to the IRS. Their daughter suggested that they call ‘On Your Side’ at the local Bay Area ABC7 station, which has reported on the Hays’ situation.

How a clerical error resulted in a fine from the IRS

It turns out that both the IRS and the couple are at fault in this case. When the Hays’s paperwork was received, no one at the tax agency caught the discrepancy on the check and it was cashed.

When the bank went to withdraw the funds from the couple’s account, the higher $33,060 amount was used, which was more money than the Hays had in their account. So it bounced, not once but twice.

Chase Bank contacted the Hays to inquire about the situation and informed them that only the amount written out on the ‘Pay to the order of’ line is honored and not that in the numerical value box. They were told that the IRS would get in touch with them, but it wasn’t a customer service representative. Instead, they received a letter from the agency claiming that they had “underpaid or paid late” along with a $661 penalty.

Tax experts told On Your Side that the penalty could be a result of the check bouncing which would make sense since they still have several months before those taxes are due.

Experts warn to expect more problems due to IRS understaffing

Chris Housh, a tax attorney, told On Your Side that part of the problem is that “a human has probably not looked at the actual situation.” He explained that “unfortunately” there are separate processing units for payments and tax returns located in different places. “So, the check got separated from all the paperwork… nobody has double-checked the two items together,” he said.

When asked if this was something that he sees often, he replied, “often enough.”

Housh lamented that the Hays’ situation should’ve been avoided but that the IRS is overwhelmed after losing a quarter of their staff as part of the Trump administration’s policy of drastically reducing the size of federal agencies. He said that things are likely to get worse with the passage of President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ as the IRS will have to do even more with less.

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