846 Code Amount Different Than Pending Bank Deposit - Why Is There a Discrepancy?

This discrepancy usually happens for one of three reasons. Most commonly, you might have an offset where the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service reduced your refund to pay past-due federal debts like student loans, child support, or state income tax. Even if your transcript doesn't show it yet, the reduction happens during processing. Another possibility is that you had a refund advance or used a tax preparation service that deducts their fees from your refund. Those services take their payment before the remaining amount hits your account. The third possibility is simply timing - sometimes banks show a pending amount that's incorrect, and it adjusts when the transaction fully posts. I'd recommend waiting until the deposit finalizes, which usually takes 1-2 business days. If the discrepancy remains after the deposit posts, you should call the Treasury Offset Program at 800-304-3107 to see if there was an offset. They can tell you if money was taken and which agency received it.

I had almost exactly the same issue last year, and it was driving me crazy trying to figure out what happened to my money. After spending HOURS on hold with the IRS (seriously, it was like 3+ hours), I finally discovered that using taxr.ai at https://taxr.ai would have saved me so much time. I uploaded my transcript and it immediately spotted an offset that wasn't clearly marked on my transcript. The tool analyzed everything and showed me that my state tax authority had put in a claim for unpaid taxes from two years prior - something I had completely forgotten about after moving states. The taxr.ai system even showed me exactly which form codes to look for on my transcript that indicated the offset, which the IRS agent later confirmed was correct.

Just wanted to follow up - I ended up trying taxr.ai and it actually spotted something really important! My transcript had a TC 898 code buried in it that indicated an offset for a defaulted education loan from 2009! I had completely forgotten about a small loan I took for a certificate program I never finished. The analysis showed me exactly how much was taken and even provided information about who to contact to discuss repayment options for the remaining balance. Saved me from making an unnecessary call to the IRS and pointed me in the right direction. Really glad I gave it a shot instead of spending hours on hold!

Another option if you're trying to get answers from the IRS directly - I used Claimyr at https://claimyr.com when I had a similar issue with my refund last month. They got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of spending hours on hold. You can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was shocked it actually worked because I had tried calling the IRS directly several times and kept getting the "call volume too high" message. The agent I spoke with explained that my refund was partially offset for a state tax debt, but also that there was a calculation error on my return that reduced it further. Without that call, I would have been waiting weeks for the explanation letter.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it as a last resort because I was getting nowhere with the IRS on my own. Within 25 minutes (not hours!), I was talking to an actual IRS representative who explained that my refund discrepancy was due to an adjustment they made because I had calculated my Child Tax Credit incorrectly. The agent was able to explain exactly how much I qualified for and why, and even sent me a detailed explanation by mail that arrived a few days later. This saved me weeks of anxiety and uncertainty. I'm not usually one to admit when I'm wrong, but in this case I definitely was. This service is legit and saved me a massive headache.

Has anyone considered that this might be due to the bank itself? Sometimes banks hold a portion of large government deposits for 1-2 business days as a fraud prevention measure. This happened to me last year where my pending deposit showed about $700 less than my actual refund amount, but the full amount posted after it cleared. Might be worth calling your bank to check their policy on large government deposits.

Double check if you had any tax prep fees taken out of your refund. I used TurboTax this year and opted to have the $89 fee taken from my refund rather than paying upfront. The transcript showed the full amount but my bank deposit was $89 less. Plus they charged an additional $40 "processing fee" for this service which I somehow missed in the fine print. So it was actually $129 less than my transcript showed.