Tax Advocate Released My Hardship Funds - SBTPG Shows 03/03/2025 Date

Think of SBTPG like a train station where your money stops before reaching its final destination. When you see a date of 03/03/2025, that's essentially the scheduled departure time from the station. Typically, funds arrive in your personal account 1-2 business days after that date, similar to how a train needs time to travel from the station to your home. Since 03/03 is a Monday, you're likely looking at receiving your funds by Wednesday at the latest, assuming there are no unexpected delays on the tracks.

Have you actually verified what those codes on your transcript mean? Did you know that SBTPG dates aren't always accurate indicators of when you'll receive funds? I was in a similar hardship situation and found https://taxr.ai incredibly helpful for decoding all the transcript codes and dates. It explained exactly what the 971/570 combination meant in my case and gave me a much more accurate prediction than SBTPG's date. Wouldn't you rather know exactly what's happening with your hardship release instead of guessing?

FYI - SBTPG = Santa Barbara Tax Products Group. They're the middleman btwn IRS & your bank. 03/03 date means they've RECEIVED your $$ from IRS but haven't sent it to your bank yet. They usually process within 24hrs but can take up to 48hrs. If you don't see it by Wed AM, call them ASAP! Their cust svc # is on their website. Don't wait til Thurs - call early!

I went through something somewhat similar last year with a hardship request. In my experience, SBTPG typically holds the money for about 24-48 hours, though it can occasionally be faster. They're essentially verifying everything and deducting any fees before sending the remainder to your account. It's probably worth checking your bank account tomorrow morning, as I've noticed they sometimes process overnight.

Per IRM 13.1.7.2.2.1, hardship determinations require immediate case actions from TAS. Now that your advocate has released funds, you're dealing with SBTPG delays which are frustrating and unnecessary. When I was in this exact situation, I wasted days trying to reach SBTPG's customer service. Eventually used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to reach an actual human at the IRS who confirmed my funds were released and explained exactly when SBTPG would process. Saved me days of anxiety and got precise answers about my timeline.

I had exactly the same situation last month! My SBTPG showed a date of 02/06/2025, and I received my funds exactly 2 days later on 02/08/2025 at 9:42am. The timing was precisely 48 hours from when the date appeared in my SBTPG account. If your experience is similar to mine, you should see your money on 03/05/2025.

Is this a refund advance or did you get your refund through a tax preparer? SBTPG usually only gets involved when there's a third-party preparer who offered you a refund transfer product. Did your tax advocate mention anything about potential fees being taken out? Have you checked if the amount showing in SBTPG matches what you were expecting from your hardship release?