H&R Block urges customers missing their $600 stimulus check to call its helpline

TAMPA, Fla. - If you are an H&R Block customer still waiting for your stimulus check, you are not alone.

The company says checks sent to millions of customers were deposited in unfamiliar accounts, but they are trying to sort it out.

From confusion to frustration to panic, millions of people who filed their 2019 taxes with H&R Block are trying to figure out what happened to their stimulus check.

"Were freaking out a little bit wondering who’s got our money?" Casselberry resident Drew Acosta wondered.

Multiple customers tell FOX 13, when they checked the IRS website, they learned their $600 payment was deposited, but not in their bank account.

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"It said that it should’ve been deposited yesterday and when I looked at the account number that it was being sent to it didn’t match up with any of my account numbers. I checked my wife, it didn’t even match up with her, as well," Acosta said.

He is one of many whose stimulus checks were deposited in a separate H&R Block account.

The company says it is known as a refund transfer account -- customers may know it as an Emerald Card -- and it's set up for customers who don't want to pay for tax preparation services up front. Instead, they have the fees deducted from their refund check, through the transfer account.

H&R Block said customers who had last year's refund deposited into an Emerald Card and are now missing their stimulus check should call 1-866-353-1266 for updates on their payments. They'll need to enter the last four digits of their Emerald Card.

All other customers can call 1-800-HRBLOCK (472-5625) and use a social security number to get automated stimulus payment information.

In a statement to FOX 13, the company said, "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."

"They’re sending out tens of millions of checks and it doesn’t happen overnight. The government just authorized this, it just happened last week so it’ll be days and weeks before all the checks are sent out. But I understand the anxiety some people have," said Joe Bert of Certified Financial Group Altamonte Springs.

H&R Block is now working to get the money in the hands of their customers. A company spokesperson said, "We immediately deposited millions of stimulus payments to customers’ bank accounts and onto our Emerald Prepaid Mastercard [Tuesday]."

As for Acosta, he got his money shortly after speaking with FOX 13 News Wednesday.

H&R Block said customers who don't recognize the account number on the IRS’s website should contact them.