I haven't received my tax refund for 2022 yet. I finished filing in October. The IRS funded my refund to the tax/bank that TurboTax uses, SBTPG. When I checked their website, they sent my refund back to the IRS after taking their fees (of course) because of 'suspicious activity.' My bank never received the funds or saw an incoming/pending transaction. After connecting with the IRS in January, they instructed me to just wait. At some point, someone in the IRS will find my refund and send me a paper check. If I submit a 3911 or trace request, they said it could stop the process and basically I would have to restart and wait again. If I wait, I may be able to see my 2022 refund in June, they said. If I don't wait and submit a 3911 form, I may not see my refund till the fall. Now I just have anxiety about processing my refund with TurboTax altogether because TT has removed themselves from this problem although they caused the problem by sending it back. SBTG didn't even do a courtesy call or email to me to verify my information before marking it as suspicious. If I use TT again this year for 2023, I worry that my refund will be sent back and lost again. If I submit taxes via TT, should I just not opt to take fees from my refund so that I won't have this problem? Or do all refunds go through SBTG? Should I go ahead and risk a delay in my 2022 refund by submitting the 3911 form?
TurboTax does not issue refunds. Only the IRS can issue a refund.
I suggest opening an online account with the IRS so that you can follow your account activities more closely. I suggest waiting a little while longer before submitting a form 3911 because it can start the process all over. You can monitor that outstanding refund by establishing that IRS Online account.
You are perfectly safe filing your return with TurboTax. Once your return has been accepted by the IRS, TurboTax is no longer involved in the process.
"All" refunds do not go through the third party bank. The third party bank is involved when you make the choice to pay TurboTax from your federal refund instead of paying upfront BEFORE you file by using a credit or debit card. If you pay your fees upfront, your refund come directly to you from the IRS and state without the involvement at all with the third party bank and without the extra fee of $40 ($45 in CA) to use that bank.
REMOVE REFUND PROCESSING FEE
Each tax year and each tax return is separate. Tracing your 2022 refund should have no effect on the processing of your 2023 tax return or the timing of your 2023 refund.