Only part of my refund was deposited into my bank account....why not the entire thing ?

[Critter]

First ... the state & federal refunds do not come at the same time ... so if that is your missing amount you can stop reading now. 

Why is my federal refund less than I expected?

Your refund may be different if you used the Refund Processing Service to pay your TurboTax Online fees. If you did, your TurboTax fee plus the additional processing fee is deducted from your federal tax refund.

Some taxpayers, regardless of tax preparation method, may see a discrepancy in their tax refund amount.  The most common reason for this is a refund offset.  All or part of a taxpayers refund may have been used (offset) to pay off past-due federal tax, state income tax, state unemployment compensation debts, child support, spousal support, or other federal nontax debts, such as student loans. Taxpayers may also see a change in their refund amount because the IRS made a change to their tax return.

Taxpayers will receive a notice explaining the refund offset.  The notice will reflect the original refund amount, your offset amount, the agency receiving the payment, and the address and telephone number of the agency. The IRS Where’s My Refund? will also reflect the reasons for the refund offset when it relates to a change in your tax return.

More information about refund offsets can be found in the following IRS Tax Topic:  Tax Topic 203 - Refund Offsets for Unpaid Child Support, Certain Federal and State Debts, and Unemployment Compensation Debts.

The IRS Where's My Refund tool will contain a disclaimer if your refund may have been offset. You'll get an explanatory letter from the government if your refund differs from what was on your filed return.

Related Information:

·         What is a refund offset?

·         Why did the TurboTax Refund Meter change after filing?

GEN12210

Answered by  TurboTax FAQ  to  this question

[dlgorton]

my refund was over $1000 short and I do not have any deductions normally listed as a  possibility. It was paid by sbtpg but I cannot contact them. I have been robbed.

Why should I ever use turbo tax again. I want to now how to get the rest of my refund.

[xmasbaby0]

Did you enter  ALL of the stimulus money that you had already received correctly in the recovery rebate credit section when you prepared your 2020 return?  The IRS cross checks and if you did not enter all of the money you received, they recalculate your refund.

MY REFUND WAS LESS THAN I EXPECTED

There can be a number of reasons why your refund was less than the amount you expected. First of all, look carefully at your actual tax returns.  There is sometimes confusion about the amount of refund to expect when users misinterpret the “summary” they saw in TurboTax. The amount of your refund is on your tax return.  Federal refund is on line 34 on Form 1040  State tax forms are all different so we cannot tell you what line to look at on your state form.  BUT it is important to actually LOOK at your tax return forms yourself and see the amounts of your tax refunds and/or tax due.  A lot of confusion would be avoided by doing that.

TurboTax does not receive feedback from the IRS regarding money that was offset from your refund.  If you owed back taxes, child support, student loan debt, etc. you will receive a letter of explanation from the IRS in several weeks.  The WMR site will contain a message regarding your offset.  It is also possible that the IRS caught a mistake you made and reduced your refund. 

A possible reason for the reduction could be that the recovery rebate credit was completed incorrectly and you may have entered the amount of stimulus already received wrong, which could have reduced the refund you thought you were seeing.

 It is also possible that your state reduced your refund for debts owed in your state—if the state reduced your state refund you will receive a letter from the state.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-refund-offsets-pay-unpaid-debts

 IRS Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107

Be aware also that your Federal refund and state refund do NOT come together.  Federal and state tax returns are processed by two completely separate entities.  There is no rule as to which one will come first,

Did you choose to have TT fees deducted from your Federal refund?  (Remember that if you did that, you also agreed to an extra refund processing fee of $39.99)

How can I see my TurboTax  fees?   

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2565973-how-do-i-review-my-fees-in-turbotax-online

 https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-refund-offsets-pay-unpaid-debts

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refunds/help/what-is-a-refund-offset/00/26301

Reduced Refund      https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203

[Dpergola]

Same here! This is ridiculous. 

Looks like I'll be making the move to another filing service next year!

[trulySTORMY]

My was substantially less than it was supposed to be! This is unbelievable!

[Destinyy18]

Did you end up getting the rest or talk to anyone ?

[Will_Logan]

This doesn't help me. The amount I received was only 10% of what I was suppose to get, a substantial amount less; I live in Texas, so no state tax. I have no debts to the IRS or Treasury, Student Loans are fine, no child support, no back taxes, nothing. So why the hell did I get only 10% of my refund. Explain that.

[VolvoGirl]

The IRS will mail you a letter explaining it.  

Or maybe it was just the new 3rd Stimulus payment and not for your refund.  

A common adjustment is if you claimed the Recovery rebate credit on 1040 line 30 when you already got the Stimulus payment or got the second one after you filed or reported the wrong amounts or entered the wrong amounts in the 2 boxes.  If you entered the total you got for both rounds in the same box it would think you didn't get the other one.  The IRS knows how much they already sent you.  You might have tried to claim it again on line 30.

[kreneeh]

Same here. Mine was $1156 short. I have no debts and I filled out all the information correctly as it was on all my W-1099, stimulus and unemployment forms that I received from both state and fed. That's a HUGE hit. I also paid unemployment taxes as I collected so it's not that either. REALLY upsetting and disappointing.

[xmasbaby0]

@kreneeh

Did you enter  ALL of the stimulus money that you had already received correctly in the recovery rebate credit section when you prepared your 2020 return?  The IRS cross checks and if you did not enter all of the money you received, they recalculate your refund.

MY REFUND WAS LESS THAN I EXPECTED

There can be a number of reasons why your refund was less than the amount you expected. First of all, look carefully at your actual tax returns.  There is sometimes confusion about the amount of refund to expect when users misinterpret the “summary” they saw in TurboTax. The amount of your refund is on your tax return.  Federal refund is on line 34 on Form 1040  State tax forms are all different so we cannot tell you what line to look at on your state form.  BUT it is important to actually LOOK at your tax return forms yourself and see the amounts of your tax refunds and/or tax due.  A lot of confusion would be avoided by doing that.

TurboTax does not receive feedback from the IRS regarding money that was offset from your refund.  If you owed back taxes, child support, student loan debt, etc. you will receive a letter of explanation from the IRS in several weeks.  The WMR site will contain a message regarding your offset.  It is also possible that the IRS caught a mistake you made and reduced your refund. 

A possible reason for the reduction could be that the recovery rebate credit was completed incorrectly and you may have entered the amount of stimulus already received wrong, which could have reduced the refund you thought you were seeing.

 It is also possible that your state reduced your refund for debts owed in your state—if the state reduced your state refund you will receive a letter from the state.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-refund-offsets-pay-unpaid-debts

 IRS Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107

Be aware also that your Federal refund and state refund do NOT come together.  Federal and state tax returns are processed by two completely separate entities.  There is no rule as to which one will come first,

Did you choose to have TT fees deducted from your Federal refund?  (Remember that if you did that, you also agreed to an extra refund processing fee of $39.99)

How can I see my TurboTax  fees?   

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2565973-how-do-i-review-my-fees-in-turbotax-online

 https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-refund-offsets-pay-unpaid-debts

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refunds/help/what-is-a-refund-offset/00/26301

Reduced Refund      https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203

 NOTE: You can contact the IRS Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107 to ask if they have an offset for you on file. TurboTax would not have that information.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-payments/who-can-garnish-an-income-tax-refund/L7cPPzDyc

[kreneeh]

I believe I did. I entered everything they sent me and TT walked me through all of it so I can't imagine what I missed. I have all state and federal stimulus forms. I'll call tomorrow. Hopefully they made a mistake.

[xepherys]

Perhaps TPG is skimming refunds?  My federal refund is $37.25 short.  It's not the processing fee or the TT fees, I verified with the IRS that there were no withholdings.  I don't believe Michigan applies sales tax to tax refund preparation, but even if they did, it isn't 25%.  And it seems like last year there were a number of folk complaining about this sort of situation.

[MichelleLO]

For assistance with your refund, please reach out to Santa Barbara Tax Group for assistance. 

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group website

@xepherys

[Ashleybarnidge]

Only part of my refund was deposited