Question

I received my refund, but it was a different amount than what I filed. How do I find out why?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 23, 2021
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TurboTax Deluxe Online

M

mesquitebean

Employee

@ jsabeh2 asked: "I received my refund, but it was a different amount than what I filed. How do I find out why?"

The Federal refund amount you submitted should be shown on your Form 1040, Line 35a.

Does "different amount" mean it was more than you expected or less than you expected?

In the interest of time, the rest of this answer assumes you received less than expected.

First of all, did you have any TurboTax fees that you chose to pay out of your Federal refund? If so, then in addition to the subtracted fees, there is a $40 service fee ($45 for California filers) plus possible sales tax.

Another possibility:

Did you prepare both Federal and state returns, and if so, did both have refunds? If so, be sure which refund you received. The Federal and state refunds come separately. Do not go by any total refund amount or net refund amount that TurboTax shows you in your account that adds the Federal and state together.

If neither of those things explains it, then if the IRS reduced your Federal refund, they will mail you a postal letter in 3 weeks or so explaining why. You might check the IRS WMR tool to see if there is any message there, such as any offset:

https://www.irs.gov/Refunds

J

jsabeh2Author

thank you for your response. I contacted my bank as a check and discovered that there had been other calls saying that people using turbo tax had also received less money than was shown on their returns. Plus, according to IRS, the amount shown on their refund tool matches what I filed. As a matter of fact, they don't even show that my return has actually been processed yet -- but I did receive a refund in my account already.

M

mesquitebean

Employee

@ jsabeh2 wrote:
thank you for your response. I contacted my bank as a check and discovered that there had been other calls saying that people using turbo tax had also received less money than was shown on their returns. Plus, according to IRS, the amount shown on their refund tool matches what I filed. As a matter of fact, they don't even show that my return has actually been processed yet -- but I did receive a refund in my account already.

Are you sure it's a Federal refund you received and not a state refund (if applicable?) Was it from the IRS/US Treasury?

You didn't answer either of the questions I asked in my comment above, including whether or not you paid any TurboTax fees out of your Federal refund.

In any case, see this FAQ for reasons that your refund may be less than shown on your Federal return:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refunds/help/why-is-my-direct-deposited-refund-or-check-lower-than-the-amount-in-turbotax/00/25594

If it was the IRS that reduced your refund, they should send you a letter in 3 weeks or so. Or you can phone them to find out why.