Does turbo tax get our stimulus checks first then send them to us?

[Critter-3]

If you used the refund processing service to pay the TT fees from the federal refund and the balance put on the TT card then the processing bank will NOT be accepting those deposits.  They will be rejected and the IRS will issue a check mailed to the address they currently have on file.  Putting in a change of address with the IRS before filing your return will be a waste of time since it will not be processed fast enough but you can put in a forwarding address with the post office if allowed.

The IRS will stop mailing payments on 1/15  so if you do not get a check in the mail by 1/27 you can get the money on the 2020 return you will file.  The IRS will not start processing returns until 1/27 at the earliest so you have time to wait and see.  

https://www.sbtpg.com/coronavirus-stimulus-payment-info/Economic Impact Payment Information

Last updated: Dec. 30 2020 8:12 am

12/30/2020 Update

The IRS has announced that the second round  Economic Impact Payments(EIP) are being delivered directly to qualified taxpayers, and the IRS has indicated payments will NOT  be delivered to Refund Transfer banks including Santa Barbara TPG. TPG will not play a role in facilitating these payments. The eligibility amount and status of your stimulus payment can be found at IRS.gov/coronavirus.

If the IRS indicates funds were sent to TPG those funds will be rejected back to the IRS. The IRS may indicate funds were deposited to an account ending in the last four digits of your Social Security number. For your protection any account that was established at TPG to facilitate processing of your tax refund was closed when you received your original tax refund, and that account no longer exists.

Unfortunately, TPG does not have any visibility into this information, therefore our agents cannot answer any questions regarding these payments.

TurboTax has NO control over your stimulus check, nor can TT track it or tell you when you will receive it.  The IRS will use the same banking information for the 2nd stimulus that they used for the first one.  If that account (or card) is closed then the stimulus will go back to the IRS and they will mail you a check.

See this information from the IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-and-irs-begin-delivering-second-round-of-economic-impact-payme...

[Opus 17]

Turbotax never touches any payment from the IRS.  In some cases, you may have agreed to let a third party bank stand between you and the IRS, and that is causing problems for some people with the stimulus payments.

If you selected that you would pay your pay your TurboTax fees from your refund, then the IRS does not have your banking information.  To pay your fees from your refund, your refund must go to a third-party bank which opens a temporary account in your name, deducts the fees, and then closes the account and sends the rest of your refund to your regular bank. This is because the IRS will not split the refund with TurboTax. This also means that the IRS does not have your real banking information, it only has the information for the temporary account at the third party bank.  

This will also happen if you choose to have your refund paid on a debit card or if you request the refund advance, because in both of those cases, your refund must also go to a temporary account at a third-party bank and not directly to your regular bank account.

The IRS knows which banks are used for this service, and if they see that your refund was sent to one of these banks, they should mail you a check or a debit card containing your stimulus payment.   If the IRS sends the stimulus payment to the third-party bank, in some cases the third-party bank will be able to re-open your temporary account and put the stimulus payment on your debit card. In other cases, the third-party bank will reject the payment and send it back to the IRS.

You also had the opportunity up through about October to go to the IRS website and inform them of your correct banking information. If you did not do this, it is not TurboTax’s fault.

I have always argued that paying your fees out of your refund is a terrible idea, not only because it cost an extra $40 service charge, but because it puts another bank that you don’t know in between you and your refund. There are many other ways of paying TurboTax’s fees without using the service.  The economic stimulus payment in 2020 simply makes the refund transfer idea even worse than usual.