Error with stimulus deposit causes concern
Many people who were expecting to see the status of their stimulus on the IRS website / get my payment were shocked to see a second banking account number they didn’t recognize. “After contacting the IRS fraud department, I was directed back to H&R Block, where the IRS agent had me check routing number on yahoo. That search showed that the routing number was indeed an H&R routing number.
The Atlanta H&R office was percolating with phone calls, and people waiting in the lobby wanting to know where their stimulus money was. The staff was helpful and said they were working on the issue.
On Monday H&R Block issued this statement to those who were concerned about the issue on their Facebook page. “The IRS Get My Payment website may display an account number you don’t recognize. If you took a Refund Transfer, it may be reflecting that account number. Check your 2019 return to confirm. But don’t worry – we have sent these payments on to the method you chose for Refund Transfer: direct deposit, check, or Emerald Card. The money should be there by the end of the day.”
Today, Tuesday H&R Block issued this statement, “H&R Block understands stimulus checks are vitally important for millions of Americans. The IRS determines where second stimulus payments were sent, and in some cases, money was sent to a different account than the first stimulus payment last spring. We processed millions of stimulus payments to customers’ bank accounts and onto our Emerald Prepaid Mastercard® yesterday, and all direct deposits are on their way. If the IRS Get My Payment website displays an account number a customer doesn’t recognize, H&R Block is ready to help with additional information at 800-HRBLOCK and 1-866-353-1266 for Emerald Card.”
The Journal-Suns efforts to reach a customer service agent were unsuccessful, as was Brittany Hahn who responded to H&R Blocks comment on Facebook, “It would be nice if the phone lines weren’t down so we could speak to someone and would have been nice to be made aware of this sooner. I went thru the whole process yesterday with freaking out and calling the IRS etc. to then find out it was sent to y’all even tho my personal banking info was used for my 1st stimulus just fine. I was told that this whole thing would be resolved last night. Here we are 24 hours later...”
An individual who chose not to have their name published said that they were in tears when they saw that the account was wrong because they were expecting over $3000, believing someone stole their identity.
On Tuesday around 1:30 p.m. H&R Block posted this on their Facebook page, "Customer support calls, social media, and app volume remain very high. We thank you for your patience. Information is available here: http://hrblock.io/SecondStimulus and we will continue to provide updates as we can on social media.."
On Twitter, H&R Block tried to assure customers, “But don’t worry – we have sent these payments on to the method you chose for Refund Transfer: direct deposit, check or Emerald Card. The money should be there by the end of the day.”
After hearing from several local customers, the stimulus check is still not in their account or slated to be in their account. The Journal-Sun will continue to update this story as we get new information.
UPDATED 1/11/21
According to Business Insider, as of last Friday Turbo Tax and H&R Block said they fixed the problem. "We have been working tirelessly with the Treasury and IRS to get stimulus payments to our customers. We know how important these funds are for so many Americans and we regret that an IRS error caused a delay," a spokesperson for TurboTax told Insider via email. Turbo Tax customers also had this issue. According to two people we have previously spoken to. They received their stimulus Wednesday. If you still have not received your stimulus check, the Turbo Tax and H&R Block websites continue to give updated information, and customer service numbers to call. Some of the reasons people still have not received their refund check is because they closed down the account the customer used to receive their tax refund, according to USA Today.