PERKINS, Okla. (KFOR) — A Payne County man says he’s been struggling to get his 2021 federal tax refund for over a year.

The Perkins man said it’s become a tug-of-war between the IRS and his bank, and he’s not going to give up on the money he’s owed.

Charles Summit says he’s not one to give up. He told KFOR that he and his wife filed their 2021 federal taxes through TurboTax.

He said TurboTax was supposed to direct deposit their $11,307 federal refund onto his wife’s TurboTax debit card in February 2022, but they didn’t get it. The card is connected to an account with Green Dot Bank.

“Everytime I call Green Dot Bank, they said that they rejected the refund because the information on our taxes didn’t meet the information on the card, which is because of my wife’s last name,” Summit explained.

Debit card provided to Charles Summitt. Image KFOR

He said his wife’s maiden name is “Kristie Cruz” and that’s what it says on her social security card, which she hasn’t updated since she married Charles in 2017. It’s also the name she used on the 2021 tax return.

Her legal married name, “Kristie Summit,” is the name on the TurboTax card associated with Green Dot Bank.

Tax documents shown to KFOR by Charles Summit

Summit said a Green Dot Bank agent told him because of the discrepancy they sent the federal refund money back to the IRS.

“The IRS hasn’t seen that money since,” he said.

Summit has been on top of the IRS to send the money back to the bank. 

In September 2022, IRS sent him and his wife a letter that said they deposited the $11,307 into the Green Dot Bank account back in February 2022 and “we have contacted the bank regarding this matter and have yet to obtain a response.”

Refund notice provided to KFOR by Charles Summit

Summit said last month he also met with an IRS agent in person in Tulsa, and they told him the IRS never received the money back from Green Dot.

According to Summit, even after he finally sent sent Green Dot the IRS’ letter along with photographic proof of his wife’s names to prove she was one person, the bank is still saying there’s nothing they can do about the money.

“It’s bad,” he said emotionally. “I mean it’s $11,000 of my money that I worked hard for and just to get an answer saying you sent it back to IRS, why don’t the IRS have it? Where’s it at? They won’t explain to me where it’s at.”

Summit also stressed that his 2021 state tax refund was deposited on his wife’s TurboTax card. So he’s unsure why the federal refund was such a problem.

On Friday, when KFOR asked TurboTax owner Intuit about Summit’s situation, they said they’re “looking into it.”

KFOR also reached out to Green Dot Bank and a spokesperson told us, “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Let us investigate this on our end and get back to you as soon as we’re able.”