‘Glitches’ delay stimulus check payments for millions of H&R Block…

Users of some of the nation’s most popular tax services could face delays in receiving their stimulus checks owing to flaws in the system.

The Washington Post reports that millions of people who filed their taxes using H&R Block, TurboTax, Jackson Hewitt, and other services have been unable to get their payments, since the IRS did not have direct deposit information on file.

Many of the people affected are seeing the “Payment Status Not Available” message on the IRS’s Get My Payment tool, which launched Wednesday. Others said they received individual payments, but did not receive the $500 subsidies for their children.

As many as 21 million taxpayers could be affected by the issue, the Post estimates, since the companies involved received taxpayer refunds first, then deducted their fees before passing along the remainder to the client. The IRS and Treasury Department told the Post they were aware of the problem and working on a solution.

TurboTax, in a statement to Coins2Day, said “The IRS has the appropriate banking information for all TurboTax filers, which can be used by them to distribute stimulus payments. … Any TurboTax customer who selects a refund transfer or a debit card that gets a stimulus payment sent from the IRS to those accounts will receive those stimulus payments without delay or fees.”

The problems come after a fairly rocky first day with the stimulus check payment tool. Some were unable to access the portal, or experienced long wait times, owing to “high demand.” Those delays were showing up again on Thursday morning.

Several users have also complained of receiving notes of “technical difficulties” when trying to enter direct deposit information. And the IRS only allows a limited number of log-ins per day, locking some people out.

People who experience the issues are encouraged to log in the following day.