![Waitress Returns $400,000 Tax Refund](http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/thefw.com/files/2012/05/Ginny-Hopkins.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Waitress Returns $400,000 Tax Refund
Virginia Hopkins was looking forward to getting her tax refund. And why wouldn’t she be, as Uncle Sam owed the waitress from Cleveland $754.
When she finally received her letter from the IRS, she tour it open and then got the shock of her life. Hopkins was staring at a check for $434,712.
“I think I would have to work most of my life to earn that much money,” she quipped. “Even with undeclared tips.”
Her potential windfall was certainly a big topic of conversation at Johnny’s Downtown Restaurant, where she has waited tables for 19 years, with her regulars and her coworkers weighing in on what she should do. Her grandkids were firmly in the “keep it” camp, thinking that just might be enough money to snag them ultra-hard to-get One Direction tickets.
But Hopkins never even for a moment considered cashing the check. She just wanted to figure out how she could return it to the IRS. Finally, she just decided to bring the check to Cleveland’s IRS office, where they gave her the third degree and demanded a photo ID before taking back their massive mistake.
Now if they would only pay her the $754 they still owe her. . .
More From Newstalk KGVO 1290 AM & 98.3 FM
![Missoula Police Arrest Man for Kidnapping, He Put a Gun in the Victim’s Mouth](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2021/08/attachment-featured-image-45.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Montanans Need to Look Out for Child Tax Credit Scams](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2021/07/attachment-RS19732_GettyImages-1050886352-scr.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Yellowstone National Park Will Open, But Montana Gates Will Stay Closed](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2018/05/yellowstone-entrance.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Airline Competition Saved Missoula Passengers $14 Million This Past Year](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2019/03/GettyImages-912360406.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![New Imitation Census Survey Reaches Montana Residents, Asks for Money](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2019/10/featured-image-2019-10-01T122248.466.png?w=980&q=75)
![MCPS Requests Two Levies Due to Increased Enrollment in Missoula](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2018/01/RS6006_452376945.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Missoula Airfares Lowest in MT, Customers Saved $5 Million During the Quarter](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2018/09/RS3625_92167360.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Montanans Paying More For Christmas Trees than Most in the U.S.](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2018/12/Christmas-Tree-pricing.png?w=980&q=75)
![A Warming Shelter Will be Open Soon in Missoula](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2018/12/homeless-photo.jpg?w=980&q=75)