Error puts millions of U.S. stimulus payments in wrong accounts -TurboTax

[webfact]

Error puts millions of U.S. stimulus payments in wrong accounts -TurboTax

By Michelle Price and Anirban Sen

 

FILE PHOTO: Charles P. Rettig, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and Erin M. Collins, National Taxpayer Advocate for the Taxpayer Advocate Service, appears before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to discuss the role of the Internal Revenue Service during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 7, 2020. Toni L. Sandys/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of pandemic stimulus payments have been deposited in incorrect customer accounts due to an Internal Revenue Service error, according to Intuit TurboTax, which is helping to distribute the payments.

 

Two banking industry sources confirmed the error, which will delay distribution of the badly needed aid.

 

"For those who don't receive a direct deposit, they should watch their mail for either a paper check or a prepaid debit card," the IRS said in a notice on Thursday.

 

Intuit TurboTax tweeted on Wednesday: "Unfortunately, because of an IRS error, millions of payments were sent to the wrong accounts and some may not have received their stimulus payment."

 

The IRS did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

 

One of the sources said the IRS used old information for millions of accounts that are thought to be closed or inactive.

 

Banks are working with the IRS to return and re-route the rejected payments to the correct accounts, but it is not clear how long this process will take, the person said.

 

The Treasury Department began processing a second round of emergency payments on Dec. 29 as part of a new congressional COVID-19 aid package. As with the first round distributed in April, millions of payments were to be directly deposited by Jan. 4 in customer accounts the IRS had on file.

 

"The IRS determines where second stimulus payments were sent, and in some cases, money was sent to a different account than the first stimulus payment last spring," Tweeted H&R Block, another tax preparation company helping to distribute payments.

 

Rejected deposits are likely to be reissued as paper checks, although the IRS may also instruct taxpayers to file their 2020 tax return to claim their payment, the person said.

 

(Reporting by Michelle Price; Additional reporting by Anirban Sen in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-08

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[harada]

Bingo, party time.

 

[Rimmer]

A troll post calculated to hijack the topic before it even gets started has been removed

[jobsworth]

I know that foreign languages are not allowed on this forum but some of us are English and may have difficulty in understanding such terms as "stimulus package". Is this what English people call a cheque?

 

[Bluespunk]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Intuit TurboTax tweeted on Wednesday: "Unfortunately, because of an IRS error, millions of payments were sent to the wrong accounts and some may not have received their stimulus payment."

 

The IRS did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

I bet some comments were made behind IRS closed doors about Intuit Turbo Tax putting the blame on them. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Fortunately, I received my $600 via direct deposit on Jan. 4, the exact date the IRS website put up for checking such things indicated it should arrive.

 

It went to the same bank account that had successfully received the prior U.S. COVID relief payout, also received without incident or delay. I guess I'm lucky to be one of the fortunate ones, unlike those in the OP.

 

The IRS website for checking the status of the $600 payments due Americans, including those living abroad, is here, under the blue-colored "Get My Payment" box link.

 

https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment

 

To use that, you need to enter your address, DOB and Social Security number.

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/05/status-not-available-some-taxpayers-wont-receive-stimulus-check.html

 

"The agency has started automatically depositing and mailing out millions of the economic impact payments, worth up to $600 for individuals and each of their child dependents.

 

And while many Americans have received their second stimulus payments as of Tuesday night, the IRS now says that people receiving the Payment Status #2 message on the Get My Payment tool will have to wait until they file their 2020 taxes to get the payment, even if they received the first stimulus check with no issues. 

 

“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,” notes the agency."

[John Drake]

19 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It went to the same bank account that had successfully received the prior U.S. COVID relief payout, also received without incident or delay. I guess I'm lucky to be one of the fortunate ones, unlike those in the OP.

 

It helps if you keep up to date with the IRS and maintain a US bank account. I file my taxes every year, primarily to get withholding on retirement accounts returned to me. But also to keep my nose in the system. I imagine there are some people here in Thailand who haven't filed in decades and probably do not keep a US bank account. I know one Thai/US citizen who didn't get their last Covid disbursement and didn't get this one either. For the past nine years that person has been bragging about avoiding reporting income to the US. Had they just filed, they would have paid no income tax but still  been in position for programs such as this when they pop up. More Covid money is likely coming. People who thought they were smart about ducking out on reporting simply screwed themselves.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, John Drake said:

It helps if you keep up to date with the IRS and maintain a US bank account.

 

Mine also was a regular U.S. bank account, since that's the way I handle all my U.S. stuff.

 

But oddly, I do my taxes thru TurboTax, and some of the news I've been reading on this indicated it was TurboTax and some other of the online filing service customers who seemed to be being affected the most by the misdirected/lost funds issue.

 

[John Drake]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Mine also was a regular U.S. bank account, since that's the way I handle all my U.S. stuff.

 

But oddly, I do my taxes thru TurboTax, and some of the news I've been reading on this indicated it was TurboTax and some other of the online filing service customers who seemed to be being affected the most by the misdirected/lost funds issue.

 

 

This statement seems to indicate that IRS was using dated Turbo Tax account data. It looks like the system just kept looking for a bank account associated with a filing, no matter how old it was. I would have expected them to do a shut off date of two or three years, but then that was probably too much work and required going beyond automation. Not to mention, when people die, accounts get frozen. They were probably sending money to dead people, too.

Quote

One of the sources said the IRS used old information for millions of accounts that are thought to be closed or inactive.