Shutterstock
A volunteer firefighter from Indiana got a serious surprise when he checked his bank account. Charles Calvin, from New Chicago, Indiana, opened his account expecting to see the $1,700 relief check for himself and his child. Instead, he saw a massive $8.2 million from the IRS.
“I went to the ATM at the Family Express and once I withdrew $200 out of my account I looked at the available balance still left in my account,” Calvin told reporters. Incredulous, he checked again, thinking the machine must have made an error. It showed the same number. Calvin was going to need some finance advice on all that money.
On Monday, Calvin called his bank and asked for a confirmation about his bank account. His head was whirling. He was a millionaire, but he didn’t know how that money got there. Maybe the IRS made a mistake, or maybe some rich relative he didn’t know about had dropped money in his account.
The bank quickly demystified the experience for Calvin, though, explaining that he had the $1,700 stimulus check but no other funds. The eight million dollars were nowhere to be seen. The bank was unsure if the issue was an error on the part of the government or simply a glitch in the ATM. However, Calvin was no millionaire.
“It kind of sucks,” Calvin told reporters. “You go from being a millionaire one second then back to being broke again. But hey, once you’re poor you don’t have anywhere else to go but up.” Calvin went on to explain that he was just happy to have the stimulus money he had been expecting. That money will help him and his child through this tough time.
Working at an incredible pace, the federal government has started issuing the stimulus money as of April 13. The IRS expects to pay people via direct deposits. The majority of taxpayers who filed 2018 and 2019 returns opted to have direct deposits of their returns, which has streamlined much of the process for the IRS.
Those who had already handed their bank account info over to the IRS will likely be the first to see the stimulus money arrive in their accounts. Most Americans will be receiving $1,200, though people with children dependents will receive an additional $500 per child. Those who make higher amounts of money will be receiving less back, though many such Americans are not out of work and in need of the money.
