Whatever you now owe to the IRS is what you would have already owed even if you had not been confused about the recovery rebate credit. You did not lose a refund you were entitled to receive. You lost a credit for money you could not receive twice. So you would have had tax due no matter what. Yes, we know it is a jolt to expect a refund and find out that you owe instead. We sympathize---a lot. But if you were confused while doing your tax return you could have asked "What is the recovery rebate credit?" in the forum. TurboTax did not dream up that term---that is what it is called on the IRS Form 1040, and the questions asked you specifically enough about the $1400 per person Economic Impact Payment and letter 6475. When you did not understand and then answered incorrectly, it put that amount on line 30--next to the words "recovery rebate credit."
There were very similar questions on your 2020 tax return when you had to enter whether you received the first or second stimulus checks. Did you make mistakes on that one? Or did you understand that you had to enter whether you received the 1st and 2nd stimulus checks? There was a recovery rebate credit on the 2020 tax return form as well---also on line 30 for tax year 2020--so that people who did not get the stimulus checks could get it on their 2020 return.
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
