For just a little while, about 150 businesses and taxpayers in Rhode Island held a little bit of the Magic Kingdom in their hands. Their tax refund checks were co-signed by none other than the Big Mouse himself, Mickey Mouse, and his creator Walt Disney.
Born in 1928, Mickey Mouse is a rodent of many talents. Star of screen and many a Disney stage, Mickey has evolved over time from clever scoundrel to lovable hero. With three fingers and one thumb on each hand, there is little that the Disney mascot cannot do. However, signing tax refund checks for the State of Rhode Island remains legally out of bounds. What happened?
In late July, a series of tax refund checks were mailed to Rhode Island businesses and corporations, mostly representing sales tax refunds. Looking closely, recipients noticed something slightly magical about the signatures on the checks. Instead of the two signatures of the Rhode Island State Treasurer and Controller, the checks were validated by none other than the Man and his Mouse, Walt and Mickey.
While not a tax crime, Jade Borgeson, Chief of Staff for the Rhode Island Department of Revenue noted, “As a result of a technical error in the Division of Taxation's automated refund check printing system, approximately 176 checks with invalid signature lines were printed and mailed to taxpayers on Monday 7/27/2020. The invalid signature lines were incorrectly sourced from the Division’s test print files." In other words, someone test printed checks with the help of Disney friends and forgot to switch the test image back when it was time to print the real checks.
Magic passes quickly and so did the checks. The state promptly voided the checks so they could not be deposited and replaced the refund checks with standard issue legal tender. Ms. Borgeson added, “The division is continuing to proactively contact impacted taxpayers to remedy the error, and apologizes for any inconvenience the error may have caused.”
It is not likely that the Disney duo will be signing tax refunds or any other state or federal checks anytime soon. The news of the fictional financial feat was picked up by media outlets across the country and hopefully the caper did not prove too aggravating for check recipients. After all, sometimes, especially in a year like this one, you just have to Believe.
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