Refund Status - Do I need to file an amended return?

[kathyvw]

I filed my Federal taxes and received a $22 refund. The next time I visited TurboTax, it said my refund should have been $1,246. How do I obtain the remaining $1,224 TurboTax says I'm due? "Where's My Refund?" says nothing about it. Am I supposed to file an amended return?

[DanaB27]

If you had unemployment on your return then the IRS will make the adjustment automatically. You do not need to file an amended return unless the calculations make you newly eligible for additional federal credits and deductions not already included on the original tax return. Please see IRS to recalculate taxes on unemployment benefits; refunds to start in May for details.

If you repaid any excess advance premium tax credit on your return then the IRS will make the adjustment automatically as well. Please see IRS suspends requirement to repay excess advance payments of the 2020 Premium Tax Credit for details.

[kathyvw]

Thank you. The amount was exactly what I'd paid in Federal income taxes on my unemployment. My new dilemma is that the refund number that now appears in TurboTax is significantly higher than the unemployment taxes, and I have no idea what it's for. 

This is the third iteration of my tax return. I did the first and received a small refund. Then the one with the unemployment tax showed up with decreased AGI and taxable income and a refund of taxes paid on unemployment. Now a third has shown up with even less AGI and taxable income and an even higher refund due. 

I am truly at a loss as to what to do. No money has been refunded, and nothing shows up at "Where's My Refund?" except the original $22 they sent me in February.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

@kathyvw The IRS is doing the calculations for the extra unemployment refund----so wait for that.   The recalculation may also affect certain credits so the amount you receive may not be exactly what you had withheld from unemployment.   The amount is not going to show up on the IRS refund site.

The IRS began to send out the additional refund checks for tax withheld from unemployment in May.   If you are eligible for the extra refund for federal tax that was withheld from your unemployment the IRS will be sending you an additional refund sometime during the next several months.  TurboTax cannot track or predict when it will be sent.  The IRS has not provided a way for you to track it, so all you can do is wait for the refund to arrive.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/how-do-i-get-the-new-unemployment-benefits-if-i-ve...

Please read this very recent news from the IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-to-recalculate-taxes-on-unemployment-benefits-refunds-to-start-in-m...

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-begins-correcting-tax-returns-for-unemployment-compensation-income-...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-and-deductions/help/am-i-eligible-for-a-new-credit-or-...

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2020-unemployment-compensation-exclusion-faqs

https://www.irs.gov/faqs/irs-procedures/forms-publications/new-exclusion-of-up-to-10200-of-unemploym...