Keri Behling was eagerly awaiting her third stimulus payment. Her car broke down three weeks ago and she plans to buy a new one with the check she received, she told CNBC Make It.
But when Behling checked his payment status on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Get My Payment tool, the Florida resident saw that he had once again been deposited in an incorrect bank account. Behling, 39, has submitted his taxes to TurboTax for the past six years. And, like millions of other customers at many tax preparation software companies, their second stimulus payment was sent to the wrong bank account by the IRS.
Tax preparation companies and the IRS said they worked together to resolve the third payment problem. But dozens of TurboTax customers wrote on CNBC Make It to say they are still facing the same problem: Like Behling, when they check the IRS’s Get My Payment tool, they are told that their payment has been deposited in the wrong bank account.
Many, including Behling, identified the numbers as belonging to “pass-through” accounts that TurboTax previously set up for them. Others said their payments were sent to closed bank accounts they used to use.
Many said they updated their account information with TurboTax after the last stimulus payment was deposited via a link the company sent to customers.
That includes Behling, who also made a point of declaring his 2020 taxes earlier, as suggested by the IRS. But that effort was not worth it: the stimulus funds were still deposited in an account that she is unable to access.
When she called TurboTax, the company said there was nothing it could do to help it, says Behling. Instead, she will have to try to contact the IRS, which is disbursing payments.
“I was on standby with the IRS for over an hour,” said Behling. “The person who finally answered … put me on hold and brought me back to a recording that said my call could not be completed.”
Tiffany Rabon, 40, contacted TurboTax about the same matter. The South Carolina resident says the company just told her that it worked with the IRS to update all customer account information. But the IRS tool still shows her that the third payment has been deposited in a closed bank account.
Why should we be punished for waiting for our stimulus money when it was not our mistake?
“Why should we be punished for waiting for our stimulus money when it was not our mistake?” Rabon says.
A TurboTax spokesman said the problem with the account is affecting a “small group” of customers who updated their bank information directly with TurboTax during the second stimulus payment.
“We contacted these customers directly with information about stimulus payments,” they said.
It is not just TurboTax. Abby Masters, a H&R Block customer, told CNBC Make It that, as the second stimulus check, her third deposit was once again sent to the wrong account via the H&R Block Emerald Card, a product in which customers can choose to have your tax refund deposited.
Masters, 38, called H&R Block several times for support, but, like TurboTax, the company cannot redirect payments on its own.
“They didn’t fix anything,” says Masters.
A spokesman for H&R Block said incidents such as what the Masters experienced were “isolated” and pointed to CNBC Make It for a press release saying that stimulus payments to Emerald Cards had been processed on Tuesday. The spokesman instructed people in trouble to call the Emerald Card helpline at 866-353-1266.
Payments for closed accounts will be reissued
According to the IRS, stimulus payments will be deposited in the bank account where the taxpayer’s last tax refund was deposited. In some cases, the IRS has not yet processed 2020 returns, which means it will still be deposited in the account to which the 2019 refund was sent. Others will receive payment of the stimulus by check.
Treasury Department and IRS officials said they worked to correct the problem of account confusion and that there would be a way for any taxpayer facing the problem to fix it.
In response to this article, an IRS spokesman told CNBC Make It that the agency believes that “the volume of payments going to closed accounts will be significantly less than any previous round of Economic Impact Payments.”
Any payments sent to closed accounts will be returned to the IRS and reissued in less than two weeks, the spokesman said. Some have already been reissued. The Get My Payment tool will show the updated information when it becomes available, and taxpayers will not have to take any action.
“We are working hard to minimize the burden on taxpayers whenever possible during this extraordinary period,” said the IRS spokesman. “We have been working non-stop on stimulus payments and the filing season.”
Don’t miss out: Tens of millions will receive third stimulus payments on March 17
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