Kentucky double-charges 7,881 state taxpayers after tech ‘glitch’ by private vendor
Daniel Freed’s bank sent him text alerts Thursday to warn that his fourth-quarter 2022 Kentucky state estimated income tax payment had been processed.
Twice.
As in, the state of Kentucky took double the money from his bank account that it was supposed to after he filed his taxes online.
“It was a little concerning,” said Freed, a freelance television news producer who lives in Lexington. “I’m asking myself, was this an error on my part? Was it a problem with the state’s website?”
Freed called the Kentucky Department of Revenue and spoke to a friendly, apologetic fellow who assured him that it was the state’s website that erred, not him. And for what it was worth, the man said, Freed was not alone, plenty of other taxpayers shared his dilemma.
On Friday, the Revenue Department confirmed to the Herald-Leader that private vendor Kentucky Interactive, which manages the agency’s online tax payment system, accidentally duplicated 7,881 electronic tax payments submitted on Wednesday.
Of that total, 5,355 were voided before they were processed. Freed was among the 2,526 that already were processed before the “technical glitch” was discovered, said Revenue Department spokeswoman Jill Midkiff.
The state has instructed Kentucky Interactive to identify the source of the glitch so it does not happen again, Midkiff said. The company also will compensate anyone for overdraft fees they incurred as a result of suddenly having less money in their bank accounts than they expected, she said.
Freed has enough wherewithal that his double-payment was not a crisis — no checks bounced — but he still was grateful Friday to have his money back where it belongs.
“All’s well that ends well,” he said.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Kentucky double-charges 7,881 state taxpayers after tech ‘glitch’ by private vendor."
