Level 2

Question

My refund amount went down

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 22, 2021
9 replies
0 views

After my refund status had been stuck in still processing status since being accepted on 2/12. I checked this weekend and received this message:

“We changed the amount claimed as Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. The error was in one or more of the following: The Social Security number of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent was missing or incomplete. The last name of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent does not match our records. One or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent exceeds the age limit. Your adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 if married filing jointly, $112,500 if head of household). The amount was computed incorrectly.”

a huge difference (I am now receiving 1200 less and am not sure why turbo tax’s accuracy check did not catch this error

TurboTax Live Deluxe Online

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DanaB27

Level 15

It seems that the IRS removed your Recovery Rebate Credit because you their records show that you had already received the full first and second stimulus payments or one of your dependents information was incomplete/wrong.

Please be aware, if you received Notice 1444 in the mail but have not received your payment as mentioned in the notice, then you need to request a trace to be able to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return. Please see How do I request a payment trace to track my first or second Economic Impact Payments?

If the reason was an incorrect dependent information then you might want to verify your dependent information.

To be eligible for the credit you need to be a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien in 2020 and have a Social Security number that is valid for employment.

You cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else to be eligible.

Your credit amount will be reduced if your 2020 adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than:

$150,000 if married and filing a joint return or filing as a qualifying widow or widower
$112,500 if filing as head of household or
$75,000 for eligible individuals filing as a single or as married filing separately.

Your payment will be reduced by 5% of the amount by which your AGI exceeds the applicable threshold above. (IRS FAQ Recovery Rebate Credit )

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montanaokie1

Level 4

It is Turbotax's fault. For some unknown reason, Turbotax entered $1200 on Line 30 of your return. This was done to many Turbotax customers' returns. When IRS sees this, they put a hold on your return, then reduce the amount of your projected return by $1200. Turbotax is not accepting responsibility for this mistake and many people's returns are being delayed and reduced by IRS. Look at the return that was prepared by Turbotax and you will see $1200 entered in Line 30. This should only be done if you didn't get your 1st stimulus payment. Good luck trying to get a refund from Turbotax!

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john_p_prenderga

Level 2

Exactly the same thing happened to me.

I'm DONE with TurboTax. The lack of accountability is wholly unacceptable.

Intuit just cost me $1200, because there's no way in hell that IRS is going to issue a check for $1200 because Intuit made a mistake in calculating my return.

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montanaokie1

Level 4

It is Turbotax's fault. For some unknown reason, Turbotax entered $1200 on Line 30 of your return. This was done to many Turbotax customers' returns. When IRS sees this, they put a hold on your return, then reduce the amount of your projected return by $1200. Turbotax is not accepting responsibility for this mistake and many people's returns are being delayed and reduced by IRS. Look at the return that was prepared by Turbotax and you will see $1200 entered in Line 30. This should only be done if you didn't get your 1st stimulus payment. Good luck trying to get a refund from Turbotax!

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wggranade

Level 2

We received notification today that the amount of our refund was lower than was on our 1040. Can you explain the reason for the difference

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xmasbaby0

Level 15

@wggranade TurboTax does not get any information from the IRS after you file your tax return so no one can explain the reduction in your refund. We can only offer guesses. Many people made mistakes with the recovery rebate credit resulting in reduced refunds. Or you could have had some other mistake or debt owed that reduced your refund. The IRS will send a detailed letter in several weeks.

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

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

MaryM428

Level 11

In some cases, TurboTax started your return with the amount of the stimulus payments added to your refund. Then when you went through TurboTax, it asked about whether you had received the stimulus payments. If you already had received your payments and then answered had received both stimulus payments, then Line 30 changed to zero, because you were not owed a back payment.

In your case, the IRS found that you had already received your two previous stimulus payments and so they removed the $1200 that has been added to your return to make up for a missed payment. If you had already received your first stimulus payment, then your answer on TurboTax should have been that you were not missing a payment and then Line 30 would have reset to zero.

This indicates that you told TurboTax that you received the $600 payment, but not the $1200 payment. The IRS checked and is indicating that you did receive the first stimulus payment.

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montanaokie1

Level 4

MaryM428. You seem to know a lot. "In some cases, TurboTax started your return with the amount of the stimulus payments added to your refund. " Q: In some cases? (you're busted)

"If you already had received your payments and then answered had received both stimulus payments, then Line 30 changed to zero," I am going to complete your sentence: "Except when Turbotax erroneously entered a number in Line 30 anyway."

Got it? Tubotax entered numbers in Line 30 for many taxpayers who answered that they HAD received both stimulus payments. That's a FACT.

To IRS, this looks like a tax return that is negligently claiming false credits. It is their obligation to single it out and review it. If I were prioritizing who gets their tax refund the fastest, it wouldn't be taxpayers who are trying to claim false credits... Just sayin'. The problem is, the taxpayer didn't do it. Turbotax did.

KathrynG3

Level 14

Now that the return has been submitted with the Recovery Rebate Credit, you are correct, the IRS will automatically adjust the Recovery Rebate Credit for any calculation discrepancies.

TurboTax provides tax software for self-prepared tax returns. To accurately complete the stimulus payments in the return, a number must be entered and/or verified for each box.

All data in the return must be verified by the preparer before submitting the return.

For more information, see: 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit — Topic G: Correcting issues after the 2020 tax return is filed | Internal Revenue Service

@montanaokie1

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Corneyhorse

Level 2

I had gotten the same letter why did I get this for that's why I had turbo tax did it so it would be right

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elyckrd

Level 2

The exact same thing happened to me. I am CONFIDENT that I answered 'yes' that I had received the stimulus payments, so there should not have been a $1200 entered by the TurboTax software on Line 30. It appears the IRS correctly adjusted my refund, so I don't claim to be cheated out of $1200. However, I use TurboTax because I am not a tax expert, & I rely on the software to do it's job. All I want is an admission of responsibility & a refund for the price of the tax software. This mistake kept my refund held up by the IRS for over 2 months. The least TurboTax could do is own their software mistake & refund the price of the software. Everybody makes mistakes. Just own it!

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JotikaT2

Employee Tax Expert

You also needed to enter the amount of each stimulus payment received for both the first and second stimulus payments. If you did not do this, then the credit would be generated as the program depends upon your input to calculate the credit correctly.

If you had entered yes, and also entered both amounts both payments, the credit would not have been calculated. You should have seen a screen similar to the one below:

Updated stimulus input

If the amounts matched, you would have selected yes. If they did not, you needed to enter the actual amount received.

@elyckrd

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elyckrd

Level 2

I understand that's how it *should* have worked, but it didn't. And, I understand that it is my word against TurboTax. But when I see this has happened to so many people, isn't it possible there was a glitch in the early versions of the software that has now been corrected in subsequent software updates? Anyway, I'm done. What's done is done.

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Mike256

Level 2

I received the same response.

We changed the amount claimed as Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. The error was in one or more of the following:

The Social Security number of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent was missing or incomplete.
The last name of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent does not match our records.
One or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent exceeds the age limit.
Your adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 if married filing jointly, $112,500 if head of household).
The amount was computed incorrectly.

Now seeing as I don't qualify for a stimulus check, much less received one and stated so on your form, how does this happen? Surely a flaw in your software. I specifically remember your "site" saying "after reviewing your adjusted gross income, you should have received a stimulus check" . Now that my refund has been reduced, not to mention held up for MONTHS, do you have any plans to make things right with your customer base, or are you just willing to lose us customers that have been faithful to you for years? Think real hard before you answer!

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ThomasM125

Level 15

@Mike256 There are two issues here, the first being are you entitled to the stimulus payment, and the other being was the return completed properly. Without knowing what your responses where in TurboTax, I can't help you with whether the return was prepared properly. If you are not due the stimulus payment, however, the IRS will not pay it to you and it wouldn't be fair in my mind to expect TurboTax to pay it either, as the payment comes from the government, not TurboTax.

TurboTax has an accuracy guarantee that will reimburse you for mistakes that the program makes, you can use this link to apply for compensation if you feel something was no calculated properly in the program:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/charges-and-fees/help/how-do-i-submit-a-claim-under-the-turbotax-100-accurate-calculation-guarantee-or-100-accurate-expert/00/26065

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Mike256

Level 2

OK,

I'll play with you!

If you would've taken the time to actually read my complaint, you wouldn't be asking the same questions that I already have answered. Are you based in India or South Africa maybe?

I did not qualify for the stimulus payment, I make over 100K per year. I never asked for the payment nor did I receive one.

My return was prepared accurately.

It was YOUR program that said I should have received the stimulus payment, not me.

Line 30 "Recovery Rebate Credit" on the return YOUR program added $143.00

This held up my return for months.

The IRS pulled this back along with $62 for trying to cheat the system.

I know that you have no intention of standing behind your mistake and I have no intention of ever using your service again. I can screw up my taxes less on my own, I don't need your help!

The link that you sent me clearly states that your100% accuracy guarantee does not and will not apply.

Accuracy Guarantee Claim Submission

Submit Your Case for Review

Please select the tax year for which you are having an issue:

Select a Year 2020 2019 2018 2017 Earlier

If you are submitting a claim for the most current tax year after April 15, have you received a notice from the IRS or other taxation authority?

Yes No

Does your notice state you have penalties and/or interest?

Yes No

If your notice does not include penalties or interest, your situation is not covered under the Accuracy Guarantee Terms & Conditions. The IRS sends a variety of notices each year, if you have been contacted by the IRS, click here to download and install the Audit Support Center. The Audit Support Center will provide step-by-step guidance to:

Find out why the IRS contacted you
Determine what the communication from IRS means
Prepare your next steps

If you have further questions regarding your notice after downloading and reviewing the Audit Support Center, click here to Contact Us.

Say goodbye to another long time client!

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chongwj

Level 2

I'm in a similar situation as I received a letter from IRS notice CP 12 tax year 2020 today saying The last name of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent does not match our records. One or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent exceeds the age limit. Your adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 if married filing jointly, $112,500 if head of household). The amount was computed incorrectly.” the amount was computed incorrectly (683D)

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Doe20

Level 2

I had the same issue, but I checked my bank statements, and the IRS website which stated I should have received the 3rd payment March 17th 2021, which I didn’t, and to be sure I checked from statements March-May and did not see a deposit of $4,200. Plus all the things it listed in the letter you received, I received and it doesn’t apply. I feel like it’s an IRS error. It’s so hard to get ahold of them through the 332 ext they give. It’s a very frustrating situation.

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xmasbaby0

Level 15

@Doe20

LOST THIRD STIMULUS CHECK

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/questions-and-answers-about-the-third-economic-impact-payment-topic-j-payment-issued-but-lost-stolen-destroyed-or-not-received

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

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Doe20

Level 2

Well my number 13 line box a was selected which screwed me from getting my 3rd stimulus check because that box stated that I’m married filing jointly (which I’m not). I don’t recall selecting this box and Turbo Tax didn’t catch it although I file as “HOH” every year including this one and “single”. So now I’m trying to figure out how to do an amended file

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Cseri3

Level 2

Yup received the same notification, my refund was reduced by $1400, the third stimulus check I never received but apparently according to IRS website should have received a credit for.. None of the below applies to me and the notice also mentions a calculation error. I entered everything correctly on turbo tax and when I called them I was told I need to contact the IRS directly. Good luck getting through I tried and message said they have high call volumn call back another day, wow really!!!

We changed the amount claimed as Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. The error was in one or more of the following:

The Social Security number of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent was missing or incomplete.
The last name of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent does not match our records.
One or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent exceeds the age limit.
Your adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 if married filing jointly, $112,500 if head of household).
The amount was computed incorrectly.

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xmasbaby0

Level 15

@Cseri3 If your own bank records do not show a deposit of the $1400 sometime from mid-March to the end of the year for the 3rd EIP payment, but the IRS says you received it then you need to have them trace it.

LOST THIRD STIMULUS CHECK

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/questions-and-answers-about-the-third-economic-impact-payment-topic-j-payment-issued-but-lost-stolen-destroyed-or-not-received

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**