I've always been hesitant to use Turbotax... This year I thought I'd try it, and it seemed easy enough. Initial impressions were good. I had a straightforward return, single filing, very few deductions-- other than the $600 stimulus #2 I never received. During this past summer, I moved to WA and changed my bank account. The first stimulus was received prior to that, but not the 2nd since there's no other way to inform the IRS other than your yearly tax return.
But my worries were for naught, since the IRS website tells you: if you didn't receive one or both stimulus payments, you can simply deduct it from your taxes this season! Of course I met all of the criterion (MUCH less than $75k/year, etc) to get the full $600, and Turbotax also believed I should have the full $600. My return included it. Taxes= filed, what could go wrong?
I normally have my return within 2-3 weeks. Not this year, and I realize the IRS is backlogged. But after almost 6 weeks of "still being processed", it changes to "accepted" but minus $600. The details page said there was a math error (none of the other scattershot reasons they provided had anything to do with me). Since I didn't do the math, I'm kinda pissed now.
In the details section of the messages that says my tax return was changed is an IRS phone number WITH EXTENSION! to call if I feel there was an error But (of course) when you call it, there's a message saying they're entirely too busy to talk, call back in July (assumed)) and it disconnects.
I find out there's a way to see what happened to my $600 stimulus-- but you have to 'register for an online account'. It asks for a gazillion ways to prove you are who you say you are, which I have, and pass through these doorways one by one. But then it want's my phone number for final verification, but get this: it tells you straight up that basically half US phones won't work with this system, yet you need it to work for you to set up your account! No landlines. No virtual phone systems, like Google Fi which I have... Apparently I'm getting an actual postal letter with another way to access it, in 4-6 months (assuming).
Meanwhile, I'm also unable to access info for my 3rd stimulus payment ($1400). Thanks to the 6-week tax return processing time this year, it's quite possible my new account/address had not been updated when THAT was sent out to a closed account, which means I may have missed out on $2000.
But at least I can deduct it from next year's tax return. *facepalm* ...which will not be filed with Turbotax. They may or may not have had anything to do with this, but something got botched here and I'm not taking chances again.
