There are two likely causes for your federal refund to be less than you are expecting.
First, if you elected to have the TurboTax fees deducted from your federal tax refund then the refund would be reduced by the amount of TurboTax fees you owed. More information about Refund Processing Service can be found here: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900596-what-is-the-refund-processing-service
Second, it is possible that your federal refund was offset by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service to pay off a debt. Your refund can only be offset for specific debts including:
- Past-due child support
- Federal agency non-tax debts
- State income tax obligations
- Certain unemployment compensation debts owed to a state
If your refund was offset, you should receive a letter from BFS detailing the offset. If you think your refund may have been offset, and you haven't gotten a letter, you can contact the BFS's TOP call center at 800-304-3107 or TDD 866-297-0517, Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. They will be able to tell you for certain if your refund was offset and why. More information about offsets can be found here: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203.html
