Tax return was less than I was told by thousands

Faithlynn — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:42:43 GMT

My tax return was deposited into my account this morning. By tpg.
I called turbo tax to see what happened and the woman in the phone told me that once TurboTax sends it to the irs that’s it. There’s nothing they can do about. That any missing money isn’t from them and I’d have to contact the irs to see if I have any offsets, which I don’t. I’m missing almost 3000.

Re: Tax return was less than I was told by thousands

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:06:01 GMT

"...almost $3000?" Are you short by $2800? Could that be the $1400 per person 3rd stimulus check amount for two people? Did you receive the stimulus check last year but say on your tax return that you did not get it?

MY REFUND WAS LESS THAN I EXPECTED

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refunds/help/why-is-my-direct-deposited-refund-or-check-lower-than-the-amount-in-turbotax/00/25594

Did you enter ALL of the stimulus money that you had already received correctly in the recovery rebate credit section when you prepared your tax return? The IRS cross checks and if you did not enter all of the money you received, they recalculate your refund. We are seeing a lot of people who somehow forgot to enter the stimulus checks of $1400 per person that they received. Are you missing an amount that is $1400 per person?

There can be a number of reasons why your refund was less than the amount you expected. First of all, look carefully at your actual tax returns. There is sometimes confusion about the amount of refund to expect when users misinterpret the “summary” they saw in TurboTax. The amount of your refund is on your tax return. Federal refund is on line 35a on Form 1040 State tax forms are all different so we cannot tell you what line to look at on your state form. BUT it is important to actually LOOK at your tax return forms yourself and see the amounts of your tax refunds and/or tax due. A lot of confusion would be avoided by doing that.

Be aware also that your Federal refund and state refund do NOT come together. Federal and state tax returns are processed by two completely separate entities. There is no rule as to which one will come first,

It is also possible that your state reduced your refund for debts owed in your state—if the state reduced your state refund you will receive a letter from the state.

A possible (and common) reason for the reduction could be that the recovery rebate credit was completed incorrectly and you may have entered the amount of stimulus already received wrong, which could have reduced the refund you thought you were seeing. If you said you did not receive the $1400 per person stimulus, and your Form 1040 had an amount on it, the IRS reduced your refund if their records showed that you got that money last year.

Did you choose to have TT fees deducted from your Federal refund? (Remember that if you did that, you also agreed to an extra refund processing fee of $39.99)

How can I see my TurboTax fees?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2565973-how-do-i-review-my-fees-in-turbotax-online

What is Refund Processing Service?

refund offset.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-refund-offsets-pay-unpaid-debts

IRS Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107

https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-refund-offsets-pay-unpaid-debts

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refunds/help/what-is-a-refund-offset/00/26301

Reduced Refund https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203

NOTE: You can contact the IRS Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107 to ask if they have an offset for you on file. TurboTax would not have that information.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-payments/who-can-garnish-an-income-tax-refund/L7cPPzDyc

TurboTax does not receive feedback from the IRS regarding money that was offset from your refund. If you owed back taxes or child support, you will receive a letter of explanation from the IRS in several weeks. The WMR site will contain a message regarding your offset. It is also possible that the IRS caught a mistake you made and reduced your refund.

Re: Tax return was less than I was told by thousands

MichelleLO — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:09:08 GMT

For questions about your refund, please reach out to Santa Barbara Tax Products Group as they are the service provider of Pay with Refund. You can contact SBTPG toll-free at 1-877-908-7228 or go to their secure website.

Re: Tax return was less than I was told by thousands

Faithlynn — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:11:02 GMT

@xmasbaby0
It was short by 2923.
also I never received the 3rd stimulus check.

Re: Tax return was less than I was told by thousands

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:14:03 GMT

@Faithlynn Check your online account with the IRS to see if the IRS says they sent you the 3rd EIP. If they show that they sent it and you did not get it, you can have it traced.

https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account

LOST THIRD STIMULUS CHECK

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/questions-and-answers-about-the-third-economic-impact-payment-topic-j-payment-issued-but-lost-stolen-destroyed-or-not-received

And....

Did you choose to have TT fees deducted from your Federal refund? (Remember that if you did that, you also agreed to an extra refund processing fee of $39.99 or $44.99 in CA)

How can I see my TurboTax fees?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2565973-how-do-i-review-my-fees-in-turbotax-online

What is Refund Processing Service?

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Tax return was less than I was told by thousands

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