My refund went to a bank account I don't recognize on SBTPG - what do I do?

Tax professional here. This is unfortunately becoming more common. SBTPG (Santa Barbara Tax Products Group) is the bank that many tax preparation companies use to process refunds when you've chosen to have your preparation fees taken out of your refund. Possible explanations: 1. If you used a tax preparation service, the account could be a temporary account they set up to deduct their fees before forwarding the remainder to you 2. Your tax preparer may have made an error entering your banking details 3. In rare cases, fraud can occur where someone intercepts and changes direct deposit information Next steps: 1. Contact your tax preparer immediately - they should be able to trace where the money went 2. Call SBTPG again at 800-901-6663 (try early morning when call volumes are lower) 3. If this happened through a chain tax preparer like H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt, visit their local office in person 4. If you suspect fraud, contact IRS Identity Theft department at 800-908-4490 Don't panic yet - in many cases this is just the intermediary account and your money will still reach you after fees are deducted.

I went through a similar nightmare last tax season! Spent weeks stressing until I found this tool called taxr.ai that actually explained everything that was happening with my refund. It analyzes your tax transcript and explains everything in plain english instead of all the confusing IRS codes. It showed me exactly where my refund was and why it was going through these weird accounts first. Saved me so much time compared to piecing together info from random internet forums. Here's the link if you want to check it out: https://taxr.ai

After spending 2 months trying to figure out where my refund went, I finally got someone on the phone at the IRS using this app called Claimyr (claimyr.com). They connected me to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes when I had been trying for WEEKS on my own. The agent was able to trace my refund and confirm it was sent to a temporary processing account first, which explained the weird account number I saw. Worth every penny to finally get answers instead of banging my head against the wall trying to get through to someone!

This definitely sounds like the temporary account SBTPG uses! I had the same heart attack moment last year. If you got your taxes done through a service like TurboTax, H&R Block, etc and chose to have the fees taken out of your refund, they use SBTPG as the middleman. They take their cut, then send the rest to your account. The weird account number is their internal processing account. Give it 3-5 business days and check your actual bank account - good chance the money (minus their fees) will show up there. If not, definitely follow the advice others have given about calling.

OMG the IRS is such a joke. Every year there's some new disaster with them. I've given up expecting competence from that agency. Hope you get your money OP but don't hold your breath. 🤡

If it helps, here's how to check if the account is actually a SBTPG temporary account vs someone actually stealing your refund: 1. Log into your TurboTax account 2. Go to Orders & Downloads 3. Find your return processing details 4. Check if "Refund Transfer" is listed as a service If it is, that's why your refund is going through SBTPG. If not, then definitely escalate this ASAP. You can also try the TurboTax support number: 1-800-446-8848

i used to work at a tax prep place. this is 100% normal. SBTPG is the bank that handles tax prep fees when you choose to pay out of your refund. the "random" account is their clearing account. they take their fee, then forward the rest to your actual bank. happens LITERALLY every day. wait 2-3 days and check your actual bank.

Am I the only one who thinks its INSANE that we have zero transparency with our own tax money?? Like why tf is our money going through random third party banks we never agreed to use in the first place?? The whole system is designed to confuse us. 💯

Similar thing happened to me and turns out the temp account was fine, but I couldn't get answers for WEEKS. Finally decided to try this call service (claimyr.com) that other people recommended and they got me through to an actual IRS agent who confirmed everything was processing normally. After all that stress it turned out my money was just working its way through the system exactly like it was supposed to. Talking to someone who could actually look at my account details made all the difference.

This happened to me too! Refund went to some random account and I freaked out. Turns out TurboTax automatically enrolled me in their "Refund Transfer" service which I never wanted. Had to wait 5 business days but eventually got my money (minus their $39.99 fee which I'm still pissed about). The worst part is they don't make it clear at all that they're doing this!

I'm an accountant and see this ALL THE TIME with clients. 99% of the time it's the temporary account used by SBTPG to process the refund and take out any fees. They don't explain this well AT ALL on purpose because they make money on the float (the interest earned while they're holding your money). Give it a few days, but also double check your tax software account to confirm if you authorized a Refund Transfer option.

CALL THE IRS DIRECTLY AND FILE A FRAUD REPORT IMMEDIATELY!!! Don't listen to people saying it's normal. My cousin had his entire refund stolen because he waited thinking it was a "temporary account." Call 800-829-1040 and tell them you need to report suspected refund fraud.

Pro tip: Next year, avoid all this BS by choosing to pay your tax prep fees directly instead of having them taken out of your refund. You'll get your money faster and avoid all these middleman processors like SBTPG that just complicate everything and take a cut of your money.

Anyone else notice that the IRS makes EVERYTHING unnecessarily complicated? It's ridiculous that we're expected to navigate this maze of third-party processors, temporary accounts, and obscure codes with zero transparency. And heaven forbid you try to call them for answers... 🙄

I used to work at TurboTax customer service. Here's what's happening: when you chose to pay for your tax prep fee using your refund (even if you thought you paid upfront), they use SBTPG as the processing bank. Your refund goes there first, they take the fee, then send the rest to your bank. The account number you're seeing is just the clearing account. THIS IS NORMAL. Check your original TurboTax order receipt and look for "Refund Processing Fee" - if it's there, this is exactly what's happening.

I was in the exact same boat last month. Refund sent to an account I didn't recognize. Spent hours trying to get through to the IRS but no luck. Finally used taxr.ai to analyze my transcript and it showed exactly what was happening with my refund - turns out it was just processing through SBTPG before coming to me. Saved me so much stress once I actually understood what all those transaction codes meant.

this is literally why i always do my taxes myself with the free fillable forms and get direct deposit straight from irs to my bank. no middlemen, no fees, no BS. its not that hard people!!!

Update on my similar situation: After two weeks of panic thinking my refund was stolen, I finally got through to an IRS agent using that claimyr.com service others mentioned. Agent confirmed it was just going through normal processing with SBTPG. Money showed up in my account 3 days later. The peace of mind from talking to someone who could actually see what was happening in the system was 100% worth it.

why is everyone acting like this is normal??? our tax dollars going to random banks we never agreed to use is NOT NORMAL. the whole system is a scam designed to extract fees from us at every turn. wake up sheeple!