Some Washingtonians see stimulus payments go to tax prep services first

Some Washingtonians got an unwelcome surprise this week when they checked the IRS website … only to find their stimulus went to an account they didn’t recognize.

It turns out that some of the people who used a tax preparation service such as H&R Block or TurboTax last year had their stimulus sent to those companies’ accounts.

One of those people was Brian Volk of Centralia, whose stimulus went to H&R Block’s account. Volk noted that in the past, his tax refunds would have gone to this account so that H&R Block could keep its fee, then send the rest of the money on to him.

“When I paid for H&R Block services, I paid it out of my refund from 2019,” he explained. “And for some reason, the computer system is sending the money to them, to their bank account.”

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Luckily for Volk, H&R Block said in a statement that it already prepaid stimulus payments for millions of Americans, and that those people should get their funds in their bank accounts this week.

“I called them, they’re going to refund it, a direct deposit, in two days, they said,” Volk explained.

Some TurboTax users reported similar issues.

“We know how important these funds are for so many Americans and that everyone is anxious to get their money,” said Intuit, which operates TurboTax. “We are partnering with the IRS to help taxpayers receive their payments as quickly as possible.”

The IRS reminded Americans that stimulus payments are being sent out between now and mid-January, and may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to show up, depending on people’s individual situation.

“The direct deposit payments may take several days to post to individual accounts … Paper checks also began going out and will continue to be sent through January,” the IRS said in a statement. “Some people will be mailed debit cards in January, and the IRS urges people to carefully check their mail. Mailed payments will require more processing and mailing time.”

The IRS also noted that there may also be bank account issues stopping people from getting their payments right away.

“Because of the speed at which IRS issued this second round of payments, some payments may have been sent to an account that may be closed or no longer active,” the agency stated. “By 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.”

If you don’t receive your stimulus by the time you file your 2020 taxes, you can claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax form.

“Remember, Economic Impact Payments are an advance payment of what will be called the Recovery Rebate Credit on the 2020 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR,” the IRS said.

The IRS asks people to visit its website with questions about stimulus payments instead of contacting IRS representatives over the phone.

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