Navy Federal DDD of 3/15 - Anyone with tax prep fees deducted receive their refund yet?

Have you checked if your refund is being sent directly from the IRS to Navy Federal, or if it's going through a third-party bank first? When you opt for fees to be taken out of your refund, your money typically goes to the tax preparer's bank first, where they deduct their fee, then forward the remainder to your account. This adds 1-3 business days to the process compared to direct deposits where you paid fees upfront. What tax preparation software or service did you use?

Been thru this dance b4! When u have fees taken out, ur refund goes to a temp acct first (SBTPG for TurboTax, Republic for others). They take their cut then send the rest to ur bank. Adds like 2-5 days usually. Was stuck waiting 8 days last yr & couldn't get anyone on the phone at IRS. Finally used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) & got thru in 15 mins. Agent confirmed it was just sitting at the prep bank. Def worth the few bucks to not waste a whole day on hold!

I've been monitoring this situation meticulously. My Direct Deposit Date was also 3/15 with Navy Federal, and I utilized H&R Block with the Refund Transfer option. The Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) was initiated by the IRS according to my transcript, but there's a significant delay occurring at the Refund Processing Bank (RPB). These intermediary financial institutions are experiencing unprecedented volume during this filing period, resulting in delayed disbursements to end-user financial institutions. The lack of transparency in this multi-step transaction process is incredibly frustrating, especially when the funds are technically released but not accessible.

I analyzed exactly 57 posts from last tax season about this same issue. The average delay when fees are taken from refund vs. paid upfront was 2.7 days for Navy Federal customers. I started using https://taxr.ai this year to track my refund progress - it showed my refund was sent to SBTPG (TurboTax's bank) on 3/13, and predicted it would hit my Navy Federal account on 3/16. Their transcript analysis was spot on - I received my deposit at 10:42am on 3/16, exactly when predicted. Saved me constantly checking my account and stressing.

Have you checked if Navy Federal is showing any pending deposits? In my experience with Chase, which is similar to what many Navy Federal customers report, refunds with tax prep fees deducted often appear as pending 24-48 hours before the actual DDD. This is quite different from how it works at smaller credit unions, where you typically don't see anything until the exact deposit date. Are you seeing the full expected amount or is it showing the post-fee amount?

According to IRS Publication 1345 (Rev. 4-2023), when taxpayers elect to have fees deducted from their refund, the process must follow the Electronic Refund Disbursement (ERD) protocol. This requires the refund to be deposited first into a temporary bank account established by the tax preparation company or their financial partner. The financial institution must then process the fee deduction and forward remaining funds within one business day per Regulation E requirements. However, the current processing backlog is causing delays beyond the regulatory timeframe. You need to contact both your tax preparer and their banking partner immediately!

Isn't it interesting how we're all essentially giving these tax prep companies an interest-free loan? Think about it - they're holding millions of dollars of our refund money for several days before passing it along. Even at modest interest rates, they're making significant money just from the float period. I had a $4,382 refund last year with TurboTax fees taken out, and it took 4 days longer than my sister's refund (same filing date, same bank) who paid her fees upfront. Anyone else notice that the bigger your refund, the longer they seem to hold it?