According to Internal Revenue Manual section 21.4.1.4.7, the Treasury will automatically issue a paper check when a direct deposit fails the verification process. Per IRS Publication 1582 (rev. 2024), common reasons include: incorrect account numbers, closed accounts, or accounts not authorized to receive tax refunds. Treasury Regulation § 31.6302-1(h)(2) further stipulates that the IRS is not required to attempt direct deposit more than once before issuing a paper check. If others are experiencing extended hold times trying to reach the IRS to resolve similar issues, Claimyr.com (https://www.claimyr.com) provides a service that can connect you directly to an IRS representative without the typical 1-2 hour wait. Their system navigates the IRS phone tree and holds your place in line, then calls you when an agent is available. This can be particularly useful during peak tax season when hold times exceed 2+ hours.

Did you double-check if your bank account info was entered correctly on your return? I'm wondering if maybe there was a typo that caused the direct deposit to fail? Also, did the agent mention why they switched to a paper check instead of direct deposit?

Have you checked if you're on a weekly or daily processing cycle? This makes a difference in when you'll see updates: • Weekly cycles: Updates appear Friday mornings • Daily cycles: Can update any day • Transcript updates before WMR • Processing time post-verification varies by tax year Did the agent give you any specific timeframe or just say it was verified?

This is similar to when I had to verify for my 2022 taxes, but quite different from my 2021 experience. In 2022, it took about 12 days after phone verification to see my refund, whereas in 2021 it took nearly a month. The current processing seems faster than during the pandemic backlog years, so I'd expect you'll see movement within 2 weeks if your situation is similar to most standard returns.

I just want to add something important that no one has mentioned yet - if you had any offsets (like student loans, child support, etc.), the refund can take an additional 1-2 weeks after leaving errors because it has to go through the Treasury Offset Program review. Also, if you're getting a paper check instead of direct deposit, add another week minimum. The IRS told me this when I called about my own situation back in March. They don't usually volunteer this information unless you specifically ask about offsets.

I've been through this EXACT scenario twice now. Last year I claimed a credit I wasn't eligible for, and this year I had an issue with the Child Tax Credit. Both times, it took exactly 12 days from leaving errors to getting my refund. What I've learned is that the WMR tool updates approximately 3-4 days before you actually get the money. So if you're obsessively checking WMR like I was (multiple times daily), watch for the status change to "approved" - that's your signal that money is about 3-4 days away. This pattern has been consistent for me and several friends in similar situations.

I went through something similar with household employee misreporting last year. Have you tried requesting a wage and income transcript directly from the IRS? This would show exactly how your income was reported to them. Did your employer provide you with any documentation explaining their tax treatment of your compensation? Was any portion of your compensation specifically designated as a housing allowance? Did you receive regular paystubs showing how your income was categorized? The more documentation you have about your actual earnings, the stronger your case will be when filing Form 4852.

Here's a specific example that might help: My client was a live-in elder care provider in 2022, and her employer did the exact same thing - put all wages in Box 14 labeled as "excluded lodging benefits." The IRS held her refund for months. We resolved it by filing Form 4852 along with her employment contract showing her hourly rate, timesheets documenting hours worked, and a statement calculating the reasonable value of lodging versus actual compensation. We explicitly referenced IRS Publication 15-B regarding the proper treatment of lodging benefits. The IRS processed this within 6 weeks and released her refund with interest. The key was providing clear documentation showing which portion of compensation was legitimately excludable lodging and which portion was taxable wages.

The Refund Transfer (RT) product that TurboTax offers uses SBTG as the Transmitter Bank. When your advance application is declined, the system is supposed to automatically revert to standard processing, but there's a technical disconnect in their API that sometimes causes the "no account found" error. This doesn't mean your refund is lost - it just means the RT product configuration in their system hasn't properly registered yet. The IRS is still processing your return normally, and you'll receive your refund via your selected disbursement method, minus the TurboTax fees. The frustrating part is that neither TurboTax nor SBTG will take responsibility for this communication gap.

I had this exact same issue last month! Filed with TurboTax on February 8th, opted for the 5-day advance, then got the message saying it couldn't be expedited. SBTG showed nothing for me either. I called TurboTax and they just kept transferring me around. Finally, after about 2 weeks of checking daily, my refund suddenly appeared in my bank account - directly from the IRS, not through SBTG. The TurboTax fees were still taken out though. So basically what happened was the advance got declined, but instead of telling us clearly, they just quietly switched it to regular processing. You'll still get your refund, but it'll come on the normal timeline.