Will a third party transfer cause a delay in the direct deposit of my refund? For instance, the IRS states my return will be in my bank account by may 3rd. Is this true?

First never expect the money to be there on any certain date and you will not be disappointed.  

The intermediary payment system (refund processing service) is only used if you chose to pay the TurboTax fees out of your Federal refund. Here's how it works, and how to check on it:

If you chose the option to pay the TurboTax fees out of your Federal refund, that is handled by an intermediary company called SBTPG (Santa Barbara Tax Products Group).   SBTPG receives your funds from the IRS at one of their two banks, subtracts the fees, then sends the rest on to your bank. SBTPG uses one of 2 banks--Civista Banking of Sandusky, OH, or Green Dot Bank. Occasionally processing will be delayed at SBTPG, sometimes requiring additional documentation due to fraud-preventive measures, etc.

In addition, if the direct deposit from SBTPG's bank to your bank fails for any reason, it bounces back to SBTPG, who will issue you a check by mail. Less commonly SBTPG will return the funds to the IRS.

You can log into your temporary account at SBTPG and check the status there to see if there is anything causing a delay and if you need to provide them any additional documentation.

Use the Taxpayer portal to log in at:

https://cisc.sbtpg.com 

SBTPG also has a 24-hour automated phone line which will tell you your status, and during the day they have live phone support. To get the phone numbers, scroll down a little on the following page to where it says "I prepared my return online."

 

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