TurboTax Starts Depositing Delayed Stimulus Funds
H&R block also says delays in processing economic impact payments have been resolved.
Intuit provided welcome news Friday to the many clients using its TurboTax software whose second economic impact payment direct deposits had been delayed, saying those direct deposits would start being made.
“Stimulus payments for millions of TurboTax customers affected by” what it said was an unspecified Internal Revenue Service error “will be deposited starting today,” Intuit said in a statement provided to ThinkAdvisor on Friday.
“We have been working tirelessly with the Treasury and IRS to get stimulus payments to our customers,” it said. “We know how important these funds are for so many Americans and we regret that an IRS error caused a delay.”
The tax prep service H&R Block, which also experienced delays earlier this week, said via a spokesperson that it had “processed all stimulus payments, with customers receiving their stimulus money via direct deposit, check or onto our Emerald Prepaid Mastercard.”
Why Were Economic Impact Payments Delayed?
Asked the nature of the IRS error, an Intuit spokesperson on Friday pointed ThinkAdvisor to a comment made on the IRS website Thursday in which it said: “Because of the speed at which the law required the IRS to issue the second round of Economic Impact Payments, some payments may have been sent to an account that may be closed or, is or no longer active, or unfamiliar.”
According to the law, “the financial institution must return the payment to the IRS; they cannot hold and issue the payment to an individual when the account is no longer active,” the IRS said, adding: “If Get My Payment shows “Payment Status #2 – Not Available” you will not receive a second EIP. The IRS advises people that if they don’t receive their Economic Impact Payment, they should file their 2020 tax return electronically and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their tax return to get their payment and any refund as quickly as possible.”
On Thursday, the IRS also announced that, “starting this week, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are sending approximately 8 million second Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) by prepaid debit card.”
The EIP Cards “follow the millions of payments already made by direct deposit and the ongoing mailing of paper checks that are delivering the second round of Economic Impact Payments as rapidly as possible,” the IRS said.
At least some clients who had their taxes prepared by H&R Block or who used Intuit’s TurboTax software complained earlier in the week that they were having problems getting their second economic impact payments via direct deposit in their checking accounts.
Although some of clients of the two firms said they had no issue quickly receiving the first stimulus checks from the U.S. government in the spring, they complained on Twitter about a snag this time around.
Typical of the tweets was one by somebody identifying herself as an H&R Block client, who asked Monday: “Why did my first stimulus check go into my account but now this time I don’t recognize the bank info…. I have been in need of getting this check, now I’m just filled with stress and worry.”
H&R Block says that any clients still experiencing delays should call 800-HRBLOCK or contact @HRBlockAnswers on Twitter.