Woman Denied Tax Refund & Stimulus Checks After IRS Says She’s Dead

A Sacramento mother was denied her tax refund and stimulus checks because the IRS has listed her as deceased.

Tiffany Ruvalcaba, a mother of four, has been unable to file her taxes for two years due to the mix-up. When she filed her 2018 taxes, the IRS told her that they were “unable to process” her tax return because “the taxpayer was deceased.”

Ruvalcaba visited a Social Security office in 2018 and was ultimately granted the tax return for that year. However, in 2019 and 2020, she faced the same hurdle.

“Basically, the government says I’m dead. It’s really creepy that I’ve had to talk about my death for so long,” Ruvalcaba said during her interview with CBS Sacramento.

Ruvalcaba explained that everyone she has spoken with “assures me it’s been corrected, and yet every time we file, it comes back again.” The problem has also prevented her from receiving the COVID-19 emergency stimulus funds. Ruvalcaba says that the IRS now owes her $15,000.

According to the IRS, Ruvalcaba would only need to show proof to Social Security that she has not died to have the error corrected. However, the woman did that over a year ago to no avail.

“IRS says it’s Social Security’s fault. Social Security says it’s IRS’s fault. I don’t care who’s at fault anymore. I really don’t. I just want to fix it,” Ruvalcaba stated.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui is now working directly with the IRS to get the confusion resolved on Ruvalcaba’s behalf.