My tax transcript say minus sign signifies a credit amount, what does that actually mean? Will I receive my refund or did the government take it?

[rickw7237]

I lost $$$$ on the Federal but came out ahead on the other I came out ahead on both state forms with an overall result to the good..

[DianeW · Accepted solution]

A negative on the transcript means that a refund is due on the return, it does not indicate when a refund is on its way or when it will be received. This doesn't indicate or answer the question whether it will be used to pay off a past due debt.

If you are concerned about whether your refund will be used for any past due debt you can call the  Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS).  

Contact the BFS's Treasury Offset Program (TOP) call center at 800-304-3107 or TDD 866-297-0517, Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. Contact the IRS only if your original refund amount shown on the BFS offset notice differs from the refund amount shown on your tax return.

[Mtott805]

Did you ever figure out what this meant? Having the same problem this year

[Cynthiad66]

Check the codes.  Code 846 means refund.

On a Return Transcript there is a line that says REFUND AMOUNT and -$XXXX and yes that is your refund amount.

On an Account Transcript you will see lines such as:

764 Earned income credit followed by -$XXXX and that is the amount of your refund from the EIC

846 Refund Issued followed by -$XXXX and this is the amount of your final refund.