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You need to get in touch with your state's child support enforcement agency immediately. The IRS is just following their directive. Your husband should have received a pre-offset notice warning this might happen. If your custody situation changed, the state agency needs to update their records and notify the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. Don't wait for this to resolve itself - it won't. The system assumes the debt is valid until proven otherwise. Get documentation of your custody arrangement and be prepared to file a formal dispute.
I work with tax cases regularly, and this appears to be a Bureau of Fiscal Service TOP (Treasury Offset Program) intercept based on outdated OCSE (Office of Child Support Enforcement) data. The 846 code with a subsequent offset notification indicates the refund was approved but then intercepted during the disbursement phase. I understand how frustrating this is when you have custody. The system is designed to catch legitimate child support debts but doesn't automatically update when custody changes. Your husband's CS obligation should have been terminated or modified when custody changed, but that requires a specific court action and system update. I'd recommend calling both your state's child support enforcement agency and the TOP hotline (800-304-3107) to identify exactly which agency placed the hold and the process for contesting it.
Try calling your state tax department early in the morning - like right when they open. I was in the same boat (federal refund in hand, state stuck in purgatory) and finally got through at 8:02am after trying during normal hours for days. Turns out they just needed to verify my identity because I moved last year. Took 5 minutes to fix once I actually talked to someone. The early bird gets the... tax refund? š
I had my state return under review for nearly 7 weeks last year while my federal came through in 2 weeks. It's much more common than it used to be. In my case, they were verifying my education credits because the state and federal rules differ slightly. My brother-in-law had a similar delay but his was just random selection for review. Unlike the IRS which has standardized most processes, state tax departments vary dramatically in their efficiency and review triggers. Your delay is likely nothing to worry about compared to what I've seen others experience.
What's SBTPG? Is that something everyone has? I filed through TurboTax. Do I need to check this too? My DDD is tomorrow.
SBTPG stands for Santa Barbara Tax Products Group. They're the financial institution that handles refund transfers when you choose to have your tax preparation fees deducted from your refund. If you paid TurboTax directly via credit card or bank account, your refund will come straight from the IRS to your bank account, bypassing SBTPG entirely.
I've been monitoring the SBTPG processing patterns rather carefully this season, and I've noticed that for DDDs falling on Fridays (like 3/17), there tends to be a slightly longer processing time. In approximately 63% of cases I've tracked, Friday DDDs don't fully process through SBTPG until the following Monday or Tuesday. This appears to be related to their weekend batch processing schedule, which operates on reduced capacity. I would suggest checking again on Monday morning, as that's when their main processing cycle typically completes for weekend transactions.
I've been through this multiple times with clients I help with taxes. Here's what typically happens: ⢠IRS has major backlogs despite what they claim publicly ⢠"Still processing" usually means your return is in a queue ⢠Many returns get randomly selected for review ⢠The IRS rarely communicates about delays until they're required to I'm skeptical of people who say there's a quick fix. In my experience, calling often doesn't help unless there's an actual error that needs addressing. The system is fundamentally broken, and throwing more technology at it (like the fancy new IRS website) doesn't fix the underlying staffing and process issues.
I just went through this exact situation and finally got my 2023 refund last week! I was completely lost in the IRS maze until I pulled my Account Transcript and noticed a TC 570 code with a TC 971 following it. After researching what these meant, I called the IRS (took 4 attempts to get through). Turns out they needed to verify my identity because of potential identity theft concerns. Once I completed the verification process, my refund was issued within 10 days. Don't give up! Check your transcript for these specific transaction codes - they're the key to understanding what's happening with your return.
CosmicCruiser
Mine just hit my American 1 account about 20 minutes ago! I was in the exact same boat as you - DDD for today, had the trace number and everything. Last year it came through at 9:30am but today it didn't post until 1:45pm. I've been using them for 3 years now and noticed they're consistently inconsistent with timing lol. But they've never missed the actual date shown on my transcript. Check your account again - bet it's there now or will be by end of day!
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Anastasia Fedorov
Be careful about assuming the deposit will arrive today just because that's your DDD. Several factors can cause delays even after the IRS releases funds: ⢠Bank processing delays (especially if it's a high-volume day) ⢠Account verification holds (some banks place 24hr holds on government deposits) ⢠Partial offsets that weren't reflected on your transcript ⢠Incorrect account information requiring manual verification I've seen people get burned counting on tax refund money being available same-day. Always have a backup plan if you need those funds immediately.
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