Candy just told me.
And TurboTax explains it.
What if I paid to file my 2007 taxes with my refund money using Santa Barbara Bank & Trust?
Even if you have received or will receive your tax refund by direct deposit to your bank account, the IRS will not do the same for your tax rebate in this instance. It will mail your rebate instead.In its preparations for issuing rebates, the IRS decided that taxpayers who entered into financial transactions with third parties, such as Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (the taxpayer and TurboTax being the first two parties), would receive their rebates by mail.
This applies only to TurboTax customers who used the “refund transfer” or RT service when filing their 2007 tax returns. The service lets you pay for your tax preparation and/or e-filing from your refund proceeds, for an additional fee, under an agreement with the bank. This allows customers to pay using their refunds, rather than credit cards.
This IRS decision also applies to taxpayers who used “refund anticipation loans” or RALs (loans made to tax filers against their expected refunds) on their 2007 returns. TurboTax does not offer RALs.
UPDATE: PLEASE READ BOB MEIGHAN’S COMMENTS, BEFORE YOU COMMENT. I know many of you want to vent. And you are free to do so. But be reasonable:
- EVERY TAX PREPARER
is in the SAME BOAT.
No matter where you went to get your taxes done!
UPDATE: 5/13/08 (Via Bob Meighan) - QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN USA TODAY COLUMN.
Also story in Chicago Tribune.
I’m really confused. When I filed with turbo tax, I entered my bank info for Santa Barbara Bank & Trust deposit, but it also asked about the stimulus check rebate and how I wanted it. I selected direct deposit and had to enter my bank information again. Why would the money not be directly deposited? This makes no sense.
@Jason: I sure don’t know, but it seems that if you use SBB&T for your regular bank, it would qualify.
I will never do Turbo Tax Again! I would have never used it if I would have known that Ahead of time.
It’s not TurboTax that’s to blame. It’s the way you all paid your fees. I used TurboTax but I paid my fees with my own bank card. I’ll be receiving my stimulus refund via direct deposit.
@Mary: Probably won’t have a “rebate” on taxes anytime soon.
@Michelle: Kind of the same answer as Michelle, except it seems to mee Turbo Tax could be more forthcoming in their explanation.
I’ll keep using TurboTax, have for five years without a glitch.
thanks to both for your thoughts.
The IRS decided that for those who elected to use a third party to pay their tax processing service fees would receive their rebate via check. This affects only those customers who used Santa Barbara Bank & Trust for their payment. Had we known at the time how the IRS would be processing rebate checks, we would have disclosed that information.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
@Bob: Wow, very impressive. I’m glad your communications people are monitoring what’s being said about TurboTax. Thanks for commenting.
I feel like im being punished because i used turbo tax.
The IRS knows my address and has all my tax info. Including my bank info.
I think to have them mailed is not fair. Some of us really in need of the money.
Shame Turbo tax never stated anything nor sent out emails to all who used their product.
This situation applies regardless of which tax software program, online service or tax preparer you used. It is not just TurboTax. Additionally, if you used your refund to pay your fees the IRS does NOT have your bank account information even if it shows on your printed return. The IRS actually has the funding bank’s account information. The refund is issued to the bank, the bank remits the fees to the software provider or the preparer and the bank then sends the net refund proceeds to the taxpayer. That is why the IRS cannot do a direct deposit. They don’t have the taxpayer’s account information. There is a lot of misinformation on this topic, but this is the answer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Edit… I meant to say “That is why the IRS cannot do a direct deposit OF YOUR REBATE.”
Bob Meighan
THIS TOTALLY SUCKS WILL NEVER USED TURBO TAX!! I GOT CHEATED ON MY TAX REBATE! WAS TOLD TWO DIFFERENT AMOUNTS AND WAS GIVEN THE LESS AMOUNT!! Called turbo tax and they said there was nothing they could do even thought the larger amount was showing up!!!
Sorry i miss spelled some words. I am really madd about the whole thing!!
So if I e-filed through Turbo Tax but pd by debit card, will I have to wait for the check or will it be direct deposited? I am totally confused.
It will be direct deposited.
Thanks. Tomorrow will either be a good day or bad day as my direct deposit is scheduled for tomorrow!
Anonymous… Your rebate amount may be different than what we computed because you MAY have an outstanding balance with the IRS or some other debt. The IRS can use the rebate to offset any liabilities you may have with them.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
@Pam B. I think tomorrow will be a good day. Let us know will ya?
Will do.
I thought the purpose was to stimulate the economy. Seems like the complete opposite here. Even through the money itself is free (and we cant really complain) it seems like a contradiction to what the government was/is trying to do. In any case, I guess I’m waiting like most everyone else for my check, with great disappointment of course.
OMG I really don’t think these people get it. How is the IRS suppose to have your bank info when it is SBB&T that is actually giving you your tax refund. Then SBB&T files your taxes to the IRS for you then they send the money to your account after they recieve it. How can you blame turbotax? I bet all you guys got your regualar refunds on time and alot quicker than the people who sent it in! You guys are just needing to blame someone. I bet most of you people will continue using Turbotax. People always have to complain about something. Believe me I wish I was one of them getting mine direct deposited! I really can use the money. There is always a price to pay for taking short cuts. Just be thankful your getting one. This only happens once in a blue moon. Now all you guys are going to be closet Turbotax users! LOL P.S. Bob your a pretty decent guy to actually comment on these things. I mean you make enough money not to care about what a few people think, but here your are trying to help people understand! Thanks
how stupid are you people you really think its the VP of turbo tax!?!? LOL Its just one of the many people that go on line and get paid by him to keep his name good!! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
who cares who he is! Stop whining about your stupid checks! Its all turbotax fault cause i can’t get my check. It’s all Turbotax fault cause I didn’t get the right amount! Are you people adults? I feel sorry for your children. Another generation of a bunch of crybabys. Thats whats wrong with america now. You’ll get your money when you get it! Thats the bottom line
Its a good day … the deposit was in my account this morning. Thanks for the info and advice.
@Pam B: Yay!!! Have fun spending it. You owe it to your country.
I guess I am actually confused. I looked at my 1040 tax return and it has my DD banking info on it. These are records that I am sure go to the IRS. Why will they not use that information to process the checks?
To me it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Can someone explain it to me please? I gave the IRS my information and they have it and yet are ignoring the information to go a different route?
Thanks!!!
I’m with you. I feel like I am being punished for not having available funds on my credit card at the time of filing. The forms for my 1040 show MY bank account and routing number. But apparently to utilize that info would involve people actually reading the forms and no one does. It’s all automatic. Hence, we are screwed. Hope the mail doesn’t lose my check next month.
I dont think that people should be upset with people for being angry. This was not clearly explained to anyone from the IRS or Turbo tax. What about the people who had their money put into an IRA! Not really going to help wht economy when your rebate is put back in that! I would be very upset! I think that maybe the IRS should have just sent everyonw out checks and not messed with this whole deposit thing, Turbo tax should have sent out an e-mail or something to their customers when they learned of this problem. Instead people are finding this out when they notice they have not got their money and start researching it! BETTER CIMMUNICATION PEOPLE!
Confused (the poster that is)… It is confusing. Hopefully, I can explain why your printed tax form has your account information but the IRS does not.
If you elected to pay your filing fees from your refund, then a bank gets involved to make this happen. In the case of TurboTax, that would be SBBT (this explanation, however, applies regardless of which bank or tax software you use). When you electronically filed with a bank product (payment of fees or a RAL, which TurboTax does NOT offer), the IRS receives a temporary bank account set up by SBBT to temporarily hold your refund. When the IRS proceses your refund, the refund is direct deposited to this temporary account. SBBT then uses these funds to pay TurboTax (or whatever service you used) and the bank direct deposits the balance of the refund in your actual account. Once this transaction is done, your temporary account is deleted.
Your printed tax return (which was not submitted to the IRS) reflects your bank account information IF you had filed a paper return.
Therefore, in this case, the IRS does not have your actual bank account information and cannot process your REBATE as a direct deposit. I’m sure if the IRS and the tax preparation industry knew at the beginning of tax season what it now knows about the rebates, a lot of things would have been done differently. Unfortunately, rebates were not even real at the start of tax season.
I hope this information helps. Again, this is confusing!
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Question-
I used Turbo Tax to efile my return and had direct debit of balance owed. Will stimulus payment be direct deposit or paper check?
@Chris: if you paid your Turbo Tax filing fees with the debit card, you will get direct depost.
(2) Quesitons:
Paid Turbo Tax fees with my credit card, does that affect my direct deposit of stimulus payment?
Was scheduled for direct deposit today (5/9/08), but have not seen deposit yet?
@Chris: I’m no expert, but you didn’t get a refund? So you paid the fees with credit card? Seems to me that the deposit should have been made. But again, I’m no expert!
The last few posts… You should be receiving your rebate by direct deposit. However, if you had a balance due with your return, you would have also had to enter your bank account information for the direct deposit of the rebate. If you filed your return prior to the rebate legislation, there would not have been an option for this in any software. Once the rebate legislation was passed, we updated TurboTax to capture the information for this stuff.
Also keep in mind that the IRS’ schedule is just a schedule. It may not be exact.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
all i hear is the same thing we all got screwed if you went through TURBO TAX
@Anonymous: You can feel that way, but you shouldn’t. TurboTax - and any other tax preparer - had NO idea there would be a stimulus check. How can you hold them responsible for something the government decided after the tax deadline?
Let’s be fair.
I used Turbotax the last few years for my returns.This year the refund went through SBB&T but previous years went through the IRS. Will they look at previous returns or just this years?
My last 2 digits are 24. I should have gotten my check yesterday but I didn’t. I used turbo tax and paid my turbo tax fees by credit card. I did summit through turbo tax that irs could take out the 60.00 bucks that I owed to IRS via my bank account on 4/11/08 which the irs did do so why have I not gotten my check ?????
Jarrod… The IRS looks only to the 2007 return to determine how it will send your rebate payment.
Laurie… Depends on when you filed. If you filed prior to March 21 (give or take a day or two), then your rebate will be mailed to you. If you filed after that date, then the IRS will send your rebate check based on what you specified in TurboTax. The importance of this date is that TurboTax was updated to reflect the new rebate rules. Also remember that the IRS schedule is just a schedule. It’s a guide not an exact science.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
I filed with TurboTax on 4/12, paid balance due on tax return with direct debit from my bank. Turbo tax fees were paid via credit card. My bank info was submitted on my tax return we efiled. I was due my stimulus rebate yesterday (5/9), but have not received it yet. ??
Chris… Did you also select direct deposit for your REBATE? It is a separate question in TurboTax just after you enter your direct debit information. If you did this, then the IRS should have processed it according to their schedule. But keep in mind that it is just a schedule and the bank may take a day to process it.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
I just got notified by my bank that I have been stimulated! So perhaps the banks are just a little slow notifying customers. SSN ends in 48.
THIS IS JUST GREAT,BECAUSE OF TURBO TAX,WHICH I HAVE USED FOR THE
LAST 5 YEARS I WONT SEE MY (VERY NEEDED)STIMULIS CHECK UNTILL JULY,
THAT IS JUST WRONG,,,,THANKS FOR NOTHING….
My husband and I are among those who filed through Turbo Tax and had the fees deducted from our refund. We did this because we need every penny we can get our hands on; we couldn’t afford to pay for the service directly.
How ironic is it that those who need the extra cash the most now have to wait (until mid-July, for us) to receive our desperately needed stimulus payments?
The bigger problem was that Turbo Tax was not clear that this was a third party transaction when the fee deduction was offered. It was not until after I hit the deduct fees option that I realized our refund was being rerouted to Santa Barber. I raised cain immediatly with TurboTax that that should be better stated when filing. I would have used a credit card for fees. I too will no longer use TurboTax. I will go to their competetors.
my ssn ends in 39 & i filed thru turbo tax on jan 31 & paid with debit card & got my state refund direct deposit. Will i get my thru direct or mail?
*get my stimulus check thru direct or mail?
i guess no1 can answer my question..
It’s nice that Turbo Tax is trying to calm down their PR nightmare but it won’t help. I don’t think it is ever made clear that you can get direct deposit without paying any fees. Turbo Tax forcefully persuades you to use Santa Barbara or get your check through the mail. Does it make sense to charge a bunch for a software product and then double charge for e-filing? We all get used to fee scams until something like this happens and hurts us all.
Lolo: direct
Just got off the phone with a rep from Turbotax. The rep said that “not many” people paid their fees with their return, so it’s only a few that are being screwed over. I beg to differ with that assertions. When I asked him why my banking info was on my tax return but the IRS can’t use it he told me that I needed to call them. So I decided to try. No luck in that. All you get is a message saying that they are experiencing heavy calls and call later. This is all a scam by the govt. They knew that millions would not be getting direct deposit so they touted how they were moving the dates up. They want to string this out as long as possible so that the economy will “grow” .
SteveB… If you selected to have SBBT deduct the fees from your refund, you had to go through at least three interview screens accepting each one. Each one prominently discloses the purpose of SBBT and the fees involved. On the disclosure, we tell you that the refund will go to SBBT who will then pay the fees and deposit the balance in your account. To suggest that this was not clearly communicated really stretches my patience. By the way, going to a competitor would have delivered the same result today. I guess my earlier posts have not been read. This affects you regardless of whether you used TurboTax, a competitor, a tax preparer or a tax franchise. We’re all in this together. Had we known back in tax season that this is how the IRS would be processing rebates, we could have done things differently.
Joseph Nielsen… The interview clearly tells you that direct deposit is free. The interview question states, “How do you want your federal refund?” The choices are “Direct deposit to my bank account (recommended)… Fastest…It’s free!” or “Mail me a check”. There NEVER is a charge for direct deposit. The SBBT charge comes into play ONLY if you select to have the TurboTax fees deducted from your refund. This is your option and we do NOT default or preselect any option for you. The charge is clearly shown on the interview screen and then follows up with even more disclosures in plain English.
Although I am very empathetic to the pain and anxiety this has caused each of you, I also want to make sure that incorrect statements are appropriately addressed. I also want to answer questions from you as they come up.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Why wasn’t an e mail sent to the people affected by this? I think it would have been the least that Turbotax could have done.
yea y havent they?
@jarrod: because we wouldn’t be having all this fun!
Seriously, you probably checked a box that said “no email” - and spam filters probably would have killed it.
I would have been very skeptical if I got an email saying “the check is in the mail” not “has been direct deposited.”
I think having a V.P. responding to a D list blog post is amazing! I wonder how many other TurboTax staffers/management are doing the same?
I think marketers will hail this as a real change in the way big corporations deal with the public.
One other point to note why is it we do not read “eFile Using Tax Cut? Use Refund To Pay Fees? Check’s In the Mail
Published on May 2, 2008 in Money and Technology? Why are there so many people angry at Turbotax and VERY few people with the same problems using the competition? Hmmmmm. Check for yourself. Use google. Bob we are not all stupid. And I am not angry about waiting for my rebate. The confirmation screens did not make clear that the refund were going to a third party and would take longer to recievpre in the first place. The fee was clear. No roblem concerning that.
jarrod…. The reason we did not send an email out is because we did not have a mechanism in place to identify customers who were affected. The season was almost over by the time we understood how the IRS would be processing rebates and there was no reason at the time to add a tracking mechanism in the product since it was our understanding that the IRS would process the rebate based on the election made for the return. Since then we have been working diligently to identify affected customers (a time consuming process) to provide the latest information. Yes, it may be late, but it has not been for lack of effort.
To whoever is now using my screen name… The reason you don’t see many other cases from the competitors is because they represent a much, much smaller share of the market. Plus, by actively engaging on these blogs and others, we certainly raise our visibility. That may hurt us from a PR perspective, but our view is to assist in every way possible and provide as much transparency as possible.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
@Bob: I have deleted the fake screen name comments, I’m sorry they slipped through, I will be more vigilant.
So a major company, one that focuses on taxes and account, does not have a “mechanism” in place to see who deducted fees from their return? I’m not buying that one at all. Why not send a mass e mail stating” if you deducted your fees, you will receive a check. Disregard this email if the information does not pertain to you.” ? The fact is, you didn’t want to deal with the situation that your comapnay is dealing with now. Instead of informing us, you hoped that the probelm would be small. Now that you realize that many of your customers are screwed, your trying to come off as the good guy. Too late. Next year, maybe you’ll take care of your customers. I will not be one of them. Also, get rid of the call center in India. I could barely understand the customer rep and she was only reading a script.
Bob Meighan, VP Turbo Tax
Thank you for explaining how the refund will be sent to those of us who chose Turbo Tax for the 2007 tax season. I am very satisfied with your service, and have no problem waiting for my check to come in the mail. I will continue to use Turbo Tax as it has helped me with my earned deductions each year. The system provides more information than the IRS forms and it is very user friendly. You are taking a lot of heat for the service you provide, but I can honestly say that you have been a great service for me. I have a question that you may be able to answer however. I have moved since filing. Will the check be forwarded to my new address once I do the address change? I know that usually the IRS will not forward refunds. If you have any information on that issue, I would appreciate you contacting me with the answer. Thanks again for a job well done.
@Jarrod: you’re starting to turn into a troll, keep it up and I will not publish your comments anymore. You are not adding anything except vitriol to the blog.
This is your one and only warning.
Okay so here is something, that may or may not have been asked prior but I couldn’t find an answer so here we go….
What about the fact that the IRS actually has the direct deposit info on the 1040A form, line 44b,c,d. Or is that information actually disclosed as well when the return is submitted to them?
And yes, we filed w/ Turbo Tax and so I am upset because we probably won’t get our stimulus this Friday but hey who would have known…by the way we just paid the fees from the refund because it was just the easy way - lesson learned!
However we will use Turbo Tax again, after all we never had an issue.
Maybe that is what we should learn from this,
“DO NOT COUNT ON MONEY YOU DO NOT HAVE YET!!!”
I not real sure about this, but if I used Turbo Tax and paid the processing fee with my tax return how will my stimulus check be sent and where can I find the IRS schedule?
Sherry…., I would think you are in the same boat as us, you will get a paper check mailed to you because you paid the fees directly from your tax refund. When you will receive the check depends on your last 2 digits of your SSN#. There is a list available on http://www.irs.gov. Go to individual, then rebate questions, now click on payment schedule under payment in progress. Here you find the paper check list with the expected dates for your stimulus payment. Hope your not in the last badge…like us…life is a joker!
Everyone who is upset at turbo tax needs to take responsibility for their own decisions…For those who had the fees deducted from their refund-I BET YOU WERENT COMPLAINING WHEN YOU HAD NO MONEY TO PAY THE FEES AND TURBO TAX HELPED YOU OUT!!!!
Im in the same situation —I had to file my taxes for gradschool and didnt have money at the time so I was relieved that I didnt have to pay upfront and I know Im not alone!!! This is not turbo taxes fault its no ones fault–policies do exist and maybe those that don’t understand this policy should when they get their paper check invest in taking a course in english to better understand what their signing when signing a contract !!! I know this is upsetting because it seems unfair but why is it that that instead of looking at it like “hey when everyone else spent their borrowed from a foreign country money on gas bills.. I will have a check in my mail !” People need to relax its just a little money… and there is people in the world who who die to have just a morsel of food … people check yourselves !!
exactly !
(deleted as promised)
Relax everyone! Your money is on the way regardless it be direct deposit or in the mail. I use Turbo Tax and will continue to do so.
Inhale—Exhale—it’s just a couple of weeks away.
Cynthia… Whether the post office forwards your rebate check to you new mailing address is a 50/50 thing. My postman forwards everything, but others will not forward mail like federal refunds/rebates.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Jarrod… I know nothing about why your post was deleted, but here is my response to why we did not send out a mass email.
1. Your tax return data is private. By law, we cannot mine your return looking for specifics that will identify if you are affected.
2. A mass email would have caused far more questions from customers who were NOT affected. Even if the email said something like “this may NOT apply to you”, we would be overwhelmed with contacts from everyone.
3. Because the rebate legislation and the details of how the rebates would be processed were not finalized by the IRS until nearly the end of tax season, we did have in place a mechanism to identify those who might be affected. As a result, we have had to do a lot of system queries to identify affected customers. We now have that list and will begin emailing tomorrow. We will email in batches over the next couple of days. While some may argue this is somewhat late, it’s the best we could do and I’d rather provide customers with accurate information vs the rumors and misstatements we’re seeing on the web.
I wholeheartedly agree with you that the delay between direct deposit and checks for many people is a hardship. I’ve read enough posts and talked to enough customers to know that any delay is causing lots of stress and anxiety.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Its good to see Bob here from turbo tax that is a sign of great customer care for him to be here helping answer questions on this topic. I am a bit disappointed that i will get a paper check just wish there was a way to sign back into turbo tax to update the info for the irs to send it direct deposit.
Personnaly, I am upset with the IRS for coming out saying if you received your refund by DD, then you will receive your rebate the same way WITHOUT expressing the exceptions. They did post 2 small sentences on their website, but that doesn’t really work, now does it. Upset with TurboTax because only until this month, when the first DD’s were sent, did they fully explain everything. Day late and a dollar short. Irritated again with the Treasury Dept. for saying that they were able to move everything up a week. Duh! They found out that they didn’t have as many DD’s to do as they thought because a VAST majority made SBB rich with processing fees. This has been a true Charlie Foxtrot. Me, I have no choice but to wait until June and juggle some bills so as to go on vacation early June. Learned my lesson. Will use TurboTax to do my taxes, but I will MAIL them for now on. SBB will NEVER get any money from me again.
The President as well as the Irs knew this information and still claimed People would see direct deposit and that payments were being sent sooner then later due to the economy.It’s hard to beleive what comes out anyones mouth these days.We will not use Turbo Tax again
Ok! I have a question? I chose direct deposit of course but had my fees come out of my refund! can’t the Irs see that we wanted direct deposit and maybe move us up on the ladder to get ours sent out earlier than scheduled for people who chose checks by mail. It seems really unfair that we chose that option and still have to wait.. because my #’s are 98. I will definitely be among the last to receive mine. could really use it with three kids
Tonya: you want the IRS to be of SERVICE?
Ain’t gonna happen. Lots of people in your boat, I know that doesn’t help though 
i will no longer use turbo tax after this. not mainly because of the rabte thing. but the rebate thing made me make my decision on wheather or not i should keep using them anymore. i have been using them for 7 years ……… screw turbo tax
Paul… The VAST majority of TurboTax customers and taxpayers as a whole do not use SBBT or any bank. The number of taxpayers that use a bank in connection with filing their return is very small. This whole issue has nothing to do with SBBT or any bank. It just so happens that the way the process works when you use a bank product puts the IRS in a position where they don’t have the taxpayer’s account information. Again, this is a case where the rebate legislation wasn’t resolved until most of the tax season was done. If we all had a crystal ball that would have told everyone in the tax industry what would happen, everyone could have done things better to eliminate the problems we’re seeing now.
Tonya… There is no way the IRS will be changing their process. Their decision was made a few weeks ago and as far as I can tell, it’s set in stone. The check process based on last two digits of SSN happens to be the way it is. While it may not be fair in your opinion, it’s the way it is.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
This may not ne Turbo Taxes fault but I have a feeling that SBBT will be losing alot of of processing fees come next tax season. This may cost Turbo Tax some customers in the future. P.S. I am one of the the many who have to wait for my check to be mailed, I elected to have my fee deducted from my refund.
1. I beleive that the number of people that used SBB&T is much larger than you stated.
2. The IRS does have our direct deposit infromation. It is on our tax returns.
@Jarrod: (with different IP address) If you are the one I deleted before, Arguing the point doesn’t change a darn thing. So once again, stop whining and singling out Turbo Tax. Angling for a refund of fees? Or just one of those who likes to get into forums and blogs and complain.
Whichever, why don’t you just go away?
Jarrod…
1. The number is not large. We know the number.
2. The IRS does NOT have your direct deposit information. It may be on your printed return, but the electronically filed return has a temporary bank account number that is used to process the tax filing fee and the ultimate sending of the net proceeds to your account. My posts above describe this in more detail. But again, the IRS does NOT have your bank account information for direct deposit. That is not an opinion, it is a fact.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
So if the IRS has only the account numbers provided by SBBT, why couldn’t the funds be sent there again and then redeposited in to our accounts the same way it was on the original return?
Dear Fellow Consumers of Turbo Tax and alike,
I have been using TT without any issues for years (until now)I filed my taxes way back in the beginning of Feb (just as all this stimulus talk was being blasted on all the news channels -TV, Net,paper, etc)
Reading it all, I was confident that (because) I had selected direct deposit and did NOT request a ‘rapid refund or RAL’ I was going to get this money direct deposit… that was the one of conditions early on that would bump a tax payer into the paper check critera.
All the hype in the beginning saying if you filed and receive direct deposit - you will receive your rebate the same way, was what the vast population believed, IF they did not file for a RAL/Rapid Refund…
Then once the IRS published the ’scheule’ and then revised it to get the DD’s out even earlier…. as people began dogging their bank accounts looking for the deposit they believed should be there, not until that moment, and after searching high & low for answers did they discover they were on the paper check list for paying the fee’s out of their refund.
I for one have always been a happy turbotax user and have always used the easy way of paying for my filing fee’s (deducted from my refund) And now because my ss # ends with 93 I’m at the end of processing (not to happy about that) sometime after July 11 !
I’m just greatful that I pay my bills, and wasn’t depending on this check to bail me out of a bad situation, there is a lesson to be learned here, don’t count on money you haven’t physically received to buy , pay or whatever until you actually get it, #1 reason I never do a ‘post dated check’ because what if the money doesn’t get there before the check….. Save yourself all those NSF fee’s.. Don’t spend what you don’t have.
Ahmed… That’s a good question and one the IRS has addressed with the banks. Unfortunately, in many bank transactions it’s the tax preparer who actually ends up printing the check for the taxpayer and these tax preparers close down their shop after April 15. That was the biggest problem with doing what you suggested. So even though SBBT knows who its customers are, the IRS cannot tell from its end who is an SBBT customer vs one who may have gone through HRBlock or Jackson Hewitt, etc. I can assure you, however, that the IRS looked at this issue seriously.
Diana… I’m glad you picked up on the fact that not all facts were available to the tax community until almost the end of the season. We all knew that RALs (which TurboTax does NOT offer) would be impacted, but did not believe that refund transfers (paying your fees from your tax refund) would also. This information was clarified by the IRS on May 7, 2008.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Hi Bob,
Please let me know the reason why my rebate was not direct deposited. Here are my info:
1. I have paid to turbo tax via credit card.
2. I owed money to IRS which was paid throuh Bank of America. IRS has taken money from my bank
3.Turbo tax asked me whether I want my rebate direct deposited, I answered yes
Even I check in IRS website with my ss number it says it is not scheduled yet.
How do I know that there is nothing wrong in my case.
Thanks for your reply.
Austin… Sounds like you did everything right. When you selected direct deposit for your rebate, did you also enter the account information (because we don’t assume it is the same for your direct debit) in addition to just saying Yes? Last thing, if you filed prior to April 16, it should be processed based on the IRS schedule. After this, you’d have to ask the IRS (I hear the IRS have very long wait times when you call). We do not have any information that tells us where your rebate is with the IRS.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Dear Bob, TT VP,
While yes using the online version of TT for years now has been ‘uneventful’, there is this part of me that is somewhat concerned that, come January 2009 (like years before) I’ll get many letters, advertisements, etc. sent to my home address and my email. As many do, and as many here have voiced, they as I do, feel somewhat hmmmmm ‘overlooked’ that a simple post card allerting your clientel (us) that these rebates could be delayed IF we had the processing fee’s deducted from our federal refunds….
However the vast majority of us went by the orginal statements (back in Feb/March)from all the media and when it came to checking on the deposit (going by the revised schedule), thats why so many were totally confused, bewildered, upset, to down right p***ed-off to find out they were not getting a DD.
According to the IRS the cut off date to call the IRS with bank info was April 13, which didn’t do any of us any good as we found out about the mix up after the 1st batch of DD were sent out April 28….. I blame the media for this too, they put out so much hype about who’s getting what and how much, when they could have published a few ‘important’ faq’s as to WHO is NOT getting a DD and why…..
Will I come back to TT next year ? Honestly I’m not sure. Why? As most of us know, the IRS allerts the tax preparers about any changes way BEFORE the public learns of the changes, so I can’t help but to wonder if TT and the others knew in advance that paying the fee’s and how that would grossly delay this rebate….. Also, I feel it might be ’safer’ to self prepare my taxes as I did before TT (by hand) and mail it in. As I’m not that pleased to learn my tax forms were altered when transmitted to the IRS, that in itself makes me wonder what else might be changed or omitted in the future. As I sure don’t need to have the IRS pounding on my front door. I’m have enough stress .
Stuff Jarrod wrote deleted except for this…
“…I just want truthful answers…”
My reaction: YOU WANT THE TRUTH? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH.
Can’t we all just get along? Rodney King
There is no free lunch. Milton Friedman
I’m from the government and I’m here to help. Ronald Reagan
Anybody else want to weigh in with appropriate quotes?
Diana and Jarrod… Here is a cut and paste that I just posted elsewhere that basically addresses your questions.
There were no drafts of how the IRS would be processing the rebate checks. The manner and timing of when rebate checks would be direct deposited or mailed were posted on the IRS web site as they were decided. In mid-to-late March, the IRS announced that taxpayers who elected to have their tax preparation fees deducted from their refund would receive their rebate via mail after direct deposits were completed. Just after the IRS provided this information, we posted it on our web site. The reason we did not contact customers directly is because we could not accurately identify affected customers at the time because IRS regulations restrict our review of our customers’ tax returns. Broadly contacting all 20 million people who filed with TurboTax (the vast majority of whom were not affected) would have caused more confusion and stress than any benefit it would have created. This was supported by many discussions with industry officials and the IRS. Since then, we have used other means (and a lot of work) to identify those who MAY be affected. Beginning tomorrow, we will be emailing those customers with the latest information.
So yes, we were surprised when we learned that these rebates would be flipped to paper checks.
Please know that we never compromise in doing what we believe is the right thing for our customers. We’re not perfect. There are some things we could have done better and we’ll continue to work this issue to the best of our ability.
These are the facts. As to your opinions, everyone is welcome to form their own based on the facts.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
“This information was clarified by the IRS on May 7, 2008.” –Bob Meighan
“In mid-to-late March, the IRS announced that taxpayers who elected to have their tax preparation fees deducted from their refund would receive their rebate via mail after direct deposits were completed.” –Bob Meighan
So which is it ? Did you’s find out in March or May? OR was it actually Feb when the stimulus was signed into congress?
This is why the American people feel we’ve been lied to… No one can keep t