topic Re: Refund shorted in Tax help for military filers

Refund shorted

awlinebarger — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 07:52:19 GMT

My refund was $6,000 shorter than it was accepted for. My coworkers was $1,000 less than... This is very concerning. Who do we contact regarding this issue?

Re: Refund shorted

Cynthiad66 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 16:18:56 GMT

The IRS made the adjustments to your refund and will provide a Explanation of Adjustments notice in a few weeks. TurboTax does not have any information from the IRS about the status of your return because it is a Privacy issue. The IRS is the only source for answers on your refund because they determine or make adjustments.

However, we have noticed that these adjustments are basically due to not reporting the amounts received as Advanced Child Tax Credit or Stimulus payments received in 2021. If these amounts are not shown on the return, the IRS will make adjustments to account for them.

Re: Refund shorted

awlinebarger — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 16:47:06 GMT

We did not receive all of the stimulus or CTC.

Re: Refund shorted

Vanessa A — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 17:09:07 GMT

You should receive a letter from the IRS telling you why your refund amount was changed. The most common reasons so far this season are:

You did not enter that you received the stimulus payment in TurboTax, so your return said you were getting the money back, but the IRS caught it and said, no, you already received it.
- If you look at line 30 of your 1040 and it shows an amount there, and you already received the $1,400 per person last year when they sent out the stimulus payments, this is likely the reason.
- If you do not remember getting the stimulus payments you can go back through your back records to double check. Many people either didn't realize they did receive it or they forgot, but end up seeing it when they go back through their records.
- The Recovery Rebate is ONLY for those who did not get the Third Stimulus Payment.
You did not report the full amount of your Advanced Payments for the Child Tax Credit that you already received. Again, the IRS will catch this and make the changes to your return.
- This would show on line 28 of your return. If you have 2 kids and you see $6,000 on line 28 then the IRS records show that you already received $3,000 in Advanced Child Tax Payments, but you entered that you did not receive any.
- Again, if you do not remember getting these payments you can go back through your bank records from July-December.

If you find you absolutely did not receive the payment, you can call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to find out where they sent it.

Re: Refund shorted

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 17:15:45 GMT

@awlinebarger We cannot see your tax return. You are going to have to look it over very carefully. Print out your Form 1040.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/prior-year-return/help/how-do-i-get-a-copy-of-a-return-i-filed-this-year-in-turbotax-online/00/25932

You have been saying that you did not receive the right amount for the child tax credit. The 2021 child tax credit is $3600 for a child up to age 5; and $3000 for children age 6 to 17. The "advance" payments would have been for half of that total amount.

First-----did you receive any advance CTC payments between July and December? Did you receive letter 6419 for that? The amount for child tax credit advance payments should have been $300/month for children under the age of 6, and $250 per month for children age 6 to 17. What total amount did you receive for the advance payments?

Now look at line 28 of your Form 1040. What do you see there? Is there an amount that equals the other "half" of the CTC? You get the other half as part of your refund. So for instance if you received $3000 between July and December, you should see $3000 on line 28 now.

And you say you did not receive stimulus payments. You were asked to enter the amount you received for the 3rd EIP payment----the stimulus amount of $1400 per person that was sent out from mid-March onward in 2021. Check your bank records---did you receive deposits or checks for $1400 per person during 2021? Did you receive letter 6475 from the IRS? Did you enter the amount(s) from letter 6475 in Federal Review for the recovery rebate credit? What is on line 30 of your Form 1040?

Now---look at the IRS online account. What does the IRS show that they sent to you (and to your spouse?)?

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

Is the IRS correct? Or is the IRS wrong?

Re: Refund shorted

awlinebarger — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 12:41:59 GMT

It shows that I was to receive $14000 and I received $8000....

I did not get ALL payments during those time periods.

Re: Refund shorted

DoninGA — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 12:44:46 GMT

@awlinebarger wrote:

It shows that I was to receive $14000 and I received $8000....

I did not get ALL payments during those time periods.

Does the IRS website indicate that you were sent less than what was reported on your federal tax return Form 1040 Line 34? - https://www.irs.gov/refunds