Farmer Says IRS Is Threatening to Seize His Property After He Tried to Return $20K Refund: ‘I Cried’

A Tennessee farmer says an IRS mistake has turned into a yearslong nightmare that could cost him his property.

Wilson Perry Kirby, a Coopertown farmer and retired Montgomery County Highway Department worker, received a $20,000 tax refund from the IRS on May 10, 2022, that he says was sent to him by mistake. He tried to return it immediately and even hired an accountant to flag the error, according to a report from WTVF published Tuesday, July 21.

“I didn’t make a mistake, they made a mistake,” the 76-year-old said, per the report.

Instead of correcting its own error, the IRS charged Kirby interest on the very money he tried to give back — and ultimately seized his entire 2025 tax refund. “Oh, I cried. It hurt me,” Kirby said.

The ordeal has dragged on for years, and Kirby’s exhausted every avenue for help. “I’ve tried the president, governor, mayor. They don’t mind asking you to vote for them, but when you need help you can’t get ahold of nobody,” he said.

Kirby believed the nightmare was finally behind him after hearing from U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn‘s office in May. “Well, they called me right before I went on television this last time and said it was settled, from Marsha Blackburn’s office,” he said, per the report. But the IRS letters never stopped. A notice sent in early July demanded he pay up to $4,300 in interest on money he says he never spent, threatening property seizure if he didn’t comply. The agency had already confiscated his $1,800 refund earlier this year.

Kirby met with the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service in Nashville in mid-July, but the visit failed to move his case forward, per the report. “I wish they would get it straightened out. And get one person to work on it, instead of sending these letters from all over the United States,” he said.

The toll has clearly worn on him. “I’ve cried, I’m ’bout to cry right now, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Kirby said.

The IRS has not publicly addressed the specifics of Kirby’s case, citing federal privacy law, but the agency has since agreed to contact Kirby directly after WTVF pressed for a response on his behalf, according to the article.