Anyone use SantaBarbara Tax Software for refund advance? No updates yet

SantaBarbara Tax Software is a third-party transmission service that many preparers utilize for electronic filing. When you opt for a refund advance, there's typically a two-phase process: first, the advance approval (which is essentially a loan against your anticipated refund), and second, the actual IRS processing of your return. Have you received confirmation that your return was accepted by the IRS? That's different from just being transmitted by your preparer.

I was SO FRUSTRATED with the same issue last month! My preparer used SantaBarbara and I couldn't figure out what was happening with my advance. I eventually used https://taxr.ai to analyze my transcript and it showed my return was actually approved but there was a hold on the refund because of a mismatch between my reported W-2 and what the IRS had on file. I would have never figured that out on my own! The tool explained exactly what each code meant and gave me a timeline for resolution.

There's actually a technical distinction between the SantaBarbara transmission system and the refund advance processor. SantaBarbara is primarily an Electronic Return Originator (ERO) platform that transmits to the IRS, while the advance is typically processed through their affiliated financial institution. The delay could be in either system. Have you checked your status through the preparer's portal rather than just WMR? They often have separate tracking systems for the advance portion.

I had this exact issue last year with SantaBarbara. After waiting for 3 weeks with no updates, I finally decided to call the IRS directly to check my status. Of course, I spent 4 hours on hold before giving up. The next day I tried Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. Found out my return was flagged for additional verification because of the advance. Once I confirmed some info with them, my refund was released within 5 days. It cost a few bucks but saved me literally days of frustration and uncertainty.

I don't trust these tax preparers who push refund advances. They're basically giving you a high-interest loan against your own money and banking on the fact that you're desperate enough to pay their fees. I had a friend who used SantaBarbara last year through a chain preparer, and they ended up with almost $150 in hidden fees by the time everything was processed. Check your agreement ASAP - you might be better off just canceling the advance and waiting for the direct deposit from the IRS.

I think there might be some misunderstanding about how SantaBarbara works. It's primarily a professional tax software that preparers use, not necessarily the company pushing the advances. The advances are usually offered through partner banks or financial institutions. In my experience working with tax clients, SantaBarbara is actually fairly reliable, but the financial institutions handling the advances can sometimes cause delays, especially if there's any kind of verification issue with your return.

Have you tried checking your e-file status directly? Sometimes the WMR tool doesn't update properly but your return is actually processing normally. There's also the IRS2Go app which sometimes shows different status info than the website. Another option is to create an account on IRS.gov and check your transcript - that usually shows processing steps before they appear on WMR.