TurboTax Early Refund Option - Can't Check SBTPG Status (CTC & EIC)

Yes. This is exactly why you can't see it. The early refund option is actually a loan. TurboTax partners with SBTPG. They front you the money. They keep your actual refund when it arrives. You won't see updates on SBTPG. Your refund isn't going through their normal tracking system. It's going directly to them. Not to you. This is the trade-off for getting money earlier.

I made this same mistake back in 2022. Selected the early refund without realizing what it meant. The tracking disappeared completely. I remember checking SBTPG daily and getting frustrated. In my experience, what's happening is that you technically already received your "refund" through that advance. The actual tax refund from the IRS will go straight to TurboTax's partner bank to pay back that advance they gave you. That's why there's nothing to track - from their perspective, your part of the transaction is already complete.

I was in the exact same boat on February 15th this year. Filed with TurboTax, chose that early refund option, then couldn't check anything. When I called the IRS on February 28th, I waited on hold for over 2 hours before giving up. Then on March 2nd, I tried Claimyr.com (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and got through to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. The agent explained that with the advance refund option, your actual refund goes directly to the bank that fronted you the money. The IRS could still see my return was processing normally though - which gave me peace of mind since I also had CTC and EIC credits.

Alternative approaches to check your refund status: • Use the IRS2Go app instead of SBTPG • Check your IRS transcript online for updates • Look at your bank account for the initial deposit from the advance • Contact TurboTax support directly • Check your email for notifications from TurboTax about the advance Has anyone tried these methods with the early refund option?

I should caution you about one thing with these refund advances. Sometimes there can be discrepancies between what TurboTax estimated for your refund and what the IRS actually approves. If the IRS determines you're eligible for less than what you received in the advance, you might need to repay the difference. This happened to a client of mine last year. The advance was $3200, but the IRS only approved $2800. They had to pay back $400 plus fees. It's something to be aware of, especially with credits like CTC and EIC that can trigger additional verification.

I've successfully navigated this situation this tax season. What you're experiencing is the standard procedure for Refund Advance products. The Electronic Return Originator (ERO) - in this case TurboTax - coordinates with Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (SBTPG) as the Refund Settlement Provider. Your refund's Designated Financial Institution (DFI) routing has been preset to direct to SBTPG, who already disbursed funds to you. The inability to track via SBTPG's portal is normal because your transaction is classified as completed in their system. Your IRS cycle code and processing are still occurring normally behind the scenes.

Just to clarify something I found on TurboTax's support page (https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support): When you choose the refund advance option, SBTPG creates a temporary bank account where your refund will be deposited. The advance is given based on your expected refund, and when the actual refund arrives, it goes to that temporary account. According to their FAQ, you can still check your refund status on the IRS Where's My Refund tool or the IRS2Go app, but the SBTPG tracking won't work because they've already processed your advance payment.