Refund amount drastically lower than expected - received only $133 instead of $9700

This definitely sounds like an offset situation, even though the IRS rep said you don't owe anything. The most common reasons for significant refund reductions are: 1. Past-due federal or state tax debts 2. Child support obligations 3. Federal student loan defaults 4. Unpaid state unemployment compensation 5. Outstanding federal non-tax debts (like SBA loans) The IRS rep might not have complete visibility into offset claims from other agencies. You should receive a notice in the mail within a few days explaining exactly why your refund was reduced. It's called a BFS (Bureau of Fiscal Service) offset notice. In the meantime, you can call the Treasury Offset Program directly at 1-800-304-3107. You'll need to verify your identity with your SSN, but they can tell you if your refund was reduced due to an offset and which agency claimed the funds.

This happened to me last year! I was expecting around $5400 and only got $327. I was completely lost until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which analyzes your tax documents and transcripts to figure out exactly what happened to your refund. I uploaded my documents and it immediately identified that my refund had been reduced due to an old debt from a federal housing loan I had completely forgotten about from 10 years ago. The system showed me exactly which agency had claimed my refund and explained how to contact them to verify the debt. Saved me hours of frustrating phone calls and confusion. Might be worth checking out in your situation - it'll tell you if this is an offset, calculation error, or something else entirely.

Just wanted to update here - I tried taxr.ai after posting my question and it was genuinely helpful! Turns out my refund reduction was due to an old state tax debt from when I lived in California that went to collections without me knowing (they sent notices to my old address). The service showed me exactly which agency took the money, when it happened, and even gave me the contact information to follow up. I was able to call them directly and verify the debt was legitimate. Saved me so much time compared to trying to get answers from the IRS. Now at least I know what happened instead of being in the dark!

If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to get answers about your reduced refund, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). It's a service that gets you through to an actual IRS agent without the insane hold times. I was in a similar situation last year - expected a $6800 refund but only got $950. Called the IRS regular number and was on hold for 3+ hours before getting disconnected. Was ready to throw my phone through a wall! Then I found Claimyr and they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was able to explain that my refund had been reduced due to an old tax debt from 2017 that I didn't realize hadn't been fully paid off. At least I got a clear answer instead of stressing for weeks!

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was getting nowhere with the IRS on my own refund issue (expected $5100, received $1390), so I gave it a shot. The service actually worked exactly as advertised. I got connected to an IRS rep in about 20 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I'd spent on previous attempts (only to get disconnected). The agent was able to immediately tell me my refund had been reduced because of a defaulted student loan I thought had been discharged years ago. She gave me the contact information for the Department of Education office handling my case. I'm still fighting to get this resolved, but at least now I know what I'm dealing with. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong!

Has anyone considered this might be an identity theft situation? When something similar happened to me (refund was thousands less than expected), it turned out someone had filed a fraudulent return using my SSN earlier in the season. The IRS flagged the discrepancy between the two returns and held back most of my refund while they investigated. Check if you received any letters from the IRS about identity verification. Sometimes they hold refunds pending verification through their ID.me system.

Has anyone mentioned the Recovery Rebate Credit? If you claimed it on your taxes but already received your stimulus payments, the IRS will automatically correct your return and reduce your refund. I've seen this happen a lot this year where people accidentally claimed stimulus money they'd already received.

Whatever you do, don't ignore this! My brother had something similar happen last year (expected $4200, got $340), and he just shrugged it off assuming it was some kind of legitimate adjustment. Six months later, he started getting collection notices from an agency claiming he owed money for a medical debt he never knew about. Turns out, that's what triggered the offset, but because he never followed up, the remaining balance was still considered active debt. Now he's dealing with credit score damage and aggressive collectors. Call the Treasury Offset number mentioned above (1-800-304-3107) ASAP, and if you can't get clear answers, consider using one of the services others have mentioned. You need to know exactly what happened so you can address it properly.