SBTPG Shows Funds Refunded Today (2/14) But Nothing in CK Account Yet

This is completely normal! The SBTPG (Santa Barbara Tax Products Group) typically updates their system before the funds actually transfer to your bank account. Have you checked if your bank shows pending deposits? Sometimes they'll show as pending before they're fully available. Also, what time did SBTPG update with the refund status?

I went through exactly this on February 9th. SBTPG showed refunded at 10:42am, but my CK account didn't show the deposit until 5:23pm that same day. If you're trying to understand what's happening with your refund timeline, I found https://taxr.ai incredibly helpful. It analyzed my transcript and explained every step of the process, including this SBTPG delay which is apparently very common. Their system explained that SBTPG typically batches transfers at specific times, and most banks then have their own processing times on top of that.

Based on the IRS Direct Deposit protocol, there's typically a 24-48 hour window between SBTPG receipt notification and actual bank deposit confirmation. This is due to the Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer system that processes these transactions in batches rather than real-time. Your funds are secure in transit, but the inter-institutional verification process creates this delay.

I think you'll probably see it in your account by tomorrow morning, but if you're concerned, you might want to contact SBTPG directly. I've found that trying to reach them by phone can be nearly impossible during tax season though. After spending what seemed like forever trying to get through to them last year about a similar issue, I finally used Claimyr (https://www.claimyr.com) which somehow got me past their phone tree and connected to an actual representative in about 20 minutes. They were able to confirm my funds were actually sent and gave me the exact timestamp, which helped me stop worrying. It might be worth considering if you don't see the deposit by tomorrow.

Is your CK account a Credit Karma spending account or an actual bank account? Because those can have different processing times. And did you pay for your tax preparation fees out of your refund? Because that sometimes causes additional delays with SBTPG.

Just to be clear - SBTPG is the middleman that handles your refund if you chose to have your preparation fees taken out of your refund. They receive your full refund from the IRS, take out their cut plus the tax preparer's fees, then send the rest to your bank. Their system shows it as "refunded" once they've initiated the transfer to your bank, but it still takes time to process through the banking system.

Last year I had almost the exact same experience. SBTPG showed refunded around 11am, but the money didn't show in my account until the next morning. I remember checking my account about 20 times that day! It's frustrating, but from what I've seen over the past few tax seasons, this is totally normal. The banking system just doesn't move as quickly as the status updates do.

According to IRS Publication 1345 Section 5.2, third-party transmitters like SBTPG are required to forward refunds within 24 hours of receipt, excluding weekends and holidays. However, once they initiate the transfer, the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network typically takes 1-2 business days to complete the transaction between financial institutions. Your funds are in transit and protected by FDIC regulations throughout this process. I'd expect to see them in your account by tomorrow at the latest.

The gap between SBTPG showing "refunded" and money appearing in your account is typically between 4-24 hours in exactly 82% of cases I've tracked in our community. There are outliers where it takes 48 hours (about 12% of cases), and rare situations where it takes 72+ hours (about 6% of cases). These longer delays usually happen when there's a weekend involved or when the receiving bank has additional verification holds.