The refund I received was much less than expected. I received no notification that it would be different than on my return. Why is it different that on my return?

[ddecker1956]

The direct deposit was roughly half of what it should have been.  What is the explanation?

[rjs]

We have no way of knowing why your refund was reduced. The IRS will send you a letter explaining why they reduced your refund. You should get the letter 3 or 4 weeks after you got the refund.

[DoninGA]

The IRS will be sending an explanation in the mail in about 3 weeks to the address entered on the tax return.

Go to this IRS website for federal tax refund FAQ's - https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

Why is my refund different than the amount on the tax return I filed? 

All or part of your refund may have been used (offset) to pay off past-due federal tax, state income tax, state unemployment compensation debts, child support, spousal support, or other federal nontax debts, such as student loans. To find out if you may have an offset or if you have questions about an offset, contact the agency to which you owe the debt.

We also may have changed your refund amount because we made changes to your tax return. This may include corrections to any incorrect Recovery Rebate Credit amount. You’ll get a notice explaining the changes. Where’s My Refund? will reflect the reasons for the refund offset when it relates to a change in your tax return.

Tax Topic 203, Refund Offsets for Unpaid Child Support, Certain Federal and State Debts, and Unemplo... has more information about refund offsets.

[ASpindler]

My refund was less also by about $1000.  I did receive a statement from the IRS saying the Recovery Rebate Credit was too high.  Turbotax calculated this for me since I did not receive any stimulus checks from the government.  Should I refile?

[VolvoGirl]

Is it for your federal refund?  Maybe it is just the 3rd Stimulus Check?  And Federal and state refunds come separately from different places at different times.  Were you having the Turbo Tax fees deducted from your refund?

I would check over your return and see if you can see anything wrong especially in the payments section.  Make sure you agree with all the amounts listed.   Like is the difference the same or close to the refund you got last year?  Maybe you put down that you applied last year's refund to this year?  Or you applied part of your refund to next year as an estimated payment.  Or you put down you made a payment with an extension or paid an estimated payment that you didn't make?

A common adjustment is if you claimed the Recovery rebate credit on 1040 line 30 when you already got the Stimulus payment or got the second one after you filed or reported the wrong amounts or entered them in the wrong box.  Do you have an amount on line 30?

If the IRS adjusted your refund they will be mailing you a letter explaining why the changed it.

[VolvoGirl]

@ASpindler  No, you can't amend for that.  If you are Single you should have got 1,200 for the first Stimulus payment and 600 for the second one.  Total 1,800.   Did you have 1,800 on line 30 for the Recovery rebate credit?  Or how much was on line 30.   Was your AGI over 75,000?

If you claimed a missing stimulus payment on your return but the IRS took it off you have to ask the IRS. They think they already sent it to you. Maybe it went to an account you don't remember. Or you got a check or a card. It was probably easy to miss the debit card in the mail and think it was junk mail. They have to put a trace on it.

How to put a trace on a missing 1st or 2nd Stimulus payment.  IRS for Payment Issued but Lost, Stolen, Destroyed or Not Received

See question F3 here, you can expand it to see how to put a trace on it.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2020-recovery-rebate-credit-topic-f-finding-the-first-and-second-econom...

[DoninGA]

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@ASpindler wrote:

My refund was less also by about $1000.  I did receive a statement from the IRS saying the Recovery Rebate Credit was too high.  Turbotax calculated this for me since I did not receive any stimulus checks from the government.  Should I refile?

---

The Recovery Rebate Credit on your return is based on the answers you provided when asked if you receive the stimulus payments.  If you indicated that you did not receive either one or both of the payments, those amounts would be entered on your federal tax return, Form 1040 Line 30.

Apparently the IRS has records showing that they sent the stimulus payment(s) to you.

Look at your tax account.  It will show you any stimulus payments that were sent by the IRS - https://www.irs.gov/payments/view-your-tax-account

If the payment shown in your account were never received then you can start a trace for those payments.

Go to this IRS website for how to start a trace - https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/second-eip-faqs

How do I request a payment trace to track my first or second Economic Impact Payments? (updated Augu...

[ASpindler]

I did receive a letter from the IRS that states:  Information was changed because of the following:  We changed the amount claimed as Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return.  The error was in one or more of the following:

- The Social Security number of one or more of the individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent was missing or incomplete.  The personal information about my wife and two daughters along with myself was retrieved from last year's TurboTax. 

- The last name of one or more individuals claimed as qualifying dependent does not match our records.  Same as above nothing changed.

- One or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent exceeds age limit.  My daughters are 14 and 15 years old.

- Your adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 if married filing jointly, $112,500 if head of household).  My adjusted income was $184,879 so I am assuming TurboTax used that figure when it calculated what I should have received.  It appears that the IRS is saying I should have only received $1,322.70 instead of $2,312 that TurboTax calculated.

- The amount was computed incorrectly. (683D)  See above.

[rjs]

@ASpindler 

For a joint return with two children and AGI of $184,879, the total of the first two stimulus payments would be $2,312. The TurboTax calculation is correct.

How did you arrive at the $1,322.70 figure? I can't see a way that the first two stimulus payments would add up to that amount with your AGI. Did the IRS change anything else on your tax return besides the Recovery Rebate Credit? Did they change anything that would increase your AGI?

On the tax return that you filed, what is the amount on Form 1040 line 30?

It might be that the IRS sent you a stimulus payment that you did not receive. Did you check your and your wife's tax accounts to see if they show any stimulus payments? See the posts by VolvoGirl and DoninGA above.