I had my refund sent to a netspend card. IRS says refund was sent to my bank on Feb 22. So where is it?

[j-beaster]

How do I find out where my refund is?

[mesquitebean]

The IRS always says it sent it to a "bank" because all it sees is the routing number and account number, so it doesn't know the difference.    A prepaid debit card uses an underlying bank account and routing number just like a bank.   

The IRS FAQ page says to allow up to 5 days due to variations in bank processing times and procedures.  But it normally doesn't take that long.

There could be another link in the chain.  Did you have any TurboTax fees that you chose to pay out of the Federal refund?  If so, the funds will go first from the IRS to an intermediary bank where the fees are subtracted.  Then that bank sends it on to your card.   If you chose that method to pay the fees, we can tell you how to log in and check on your funds at the level of the intermediary company.

[j-beaster]

Yes I did have the fees taken out of the refund?

[mesquitebean · Accepted solution]

If you chose to pay your TurboTax fees out of your Federal refund, your funds will first go from the IRS to a temporary account at an intermediary bank--either Civista Bank of Sandusky, Ohio, or Green Dot Bank.  At the intermediary bank the fees are subtracted, then the rest of your funds are sent on to your bank (or prepaid debit card) in a second deposit.  The company that handles that is SBTPG (Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.)

Less commonly there can be delays at the intermediary bank, and additional ID info, etc. might be required.

If for any reason the second deposit fails (the one that is actually to your bank or card), it will bounce back to SBTPG's bank who will issue you a paper check in the mail.

Once the IRS has released your funds, you can log in to your temporary account at SBTPG to see the status of your funds.

To log in, choose the taxpayer portal at:
https://www.sbtpg.com/

SBTPG has a phone contact page at the following link.   Even when they are closed, you may be able to get automated info, or you can log in as above.

https://help.sbtpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/230084587-Contact-Information