Why did the state take the money I owe before I got my federal refund?

[ocean26]

I live in Delaware

[xmasbaby0]

Not sure how you thought the state was being paid.   The state cannot be paid from your federal refund.   The state tax due has to be paid by YOU---either by check, money order, or credit/debit card.   It is not possible to pay the state from a federal refund.

If you are still waiting for a federal refund, did TurboTax takes its fees from your account?

Was it this?

TURBOTAX TOOK MONEY OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT

Did you choose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your federal refund?  Is your refund taking an unusually long time to arrive?  Or was your refund seized to pay a debt you owed? if so, you signed an agreement that says TT can withdraw its fees from your account.  TurboTax would have sent several emails to you before they took the money out of your account.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901364-why-was-my-bank-account-auto-debited-for-turbotax-fees

Turbo Tax says......

We understand that these are unprecedented times and we’re committed to helping our customers who are experiencing hardships. If you’re in need of assistance, call us by the Tuesday prior to your debit date at 1-888-808-1723 to speak with a trained specialist and mention “auto-debit”, or visit TurboTax Support.

Your state tax due cannot be paid from your federal refund. 

It is not possible to pay your state tax due from your federal refund, nor is it possible to pay a federal tax due from a state refund.  The federal and state treasuries are completely separate from each other.  You may have seen a TurboTax summary of your federal and state amounts that confused you into thinking one was “paying” the other.  It is not. The ONLY thing you can pay for from a federal refund is your TurboTax fees if you chose that option.  

 If you have federal tax due you can pay by mailing your payment with the 1040V voucher, (which has the address printed on it, having the payment taken out of a designated bank account, or you can pay directly on the IRS website. 

https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-payments/help/how-can-i-pay-my-federal-taxes/00/26212

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-payments/help/how-do-i-pay-my-irs-tax-due-with-a-check-or-mone... 

You must pay your state tax due using the state’s preferred method of receiving payment.  For most states that will be by making a payment to the state’s own tax website, or by mailing a check or money order.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900884-what-are-my-options-for-getting-my-state-refund-or-for-pay...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901670-how-do-i-contact-my-state-department-of-revenue

[mckay84]

THIS IS COMPLETELY FALSE. I have had the state of California take from my federal refund twice to pay taxes. Both times were in a Tax Garnish situation. And they took 100% of the Bill to cover my debits. 

[SteamTrain]

@mckay84 

We're only talking about the current tax year's refund/balance due here.  You can't choose to auto-direct a refund from one, to the taxes owed to the other, on your normal tax filing.

______________________________

A garnisheed situation is for past taxes due where you have forced the IRS or State to go thru a legal process to garnishee the taxes you owe ........ because you failed to pay them what you owed at some time long ago, and then, they also usually attach extra penalties and interest to those overdue taxes as a result.