I am pissed that I was not informed about the third party that my refund must go through (Santa Barbara Tax Group) and I have to pay extra for this service.

[rmrj64]

I am very upset that I was not told about this third party handling my return! Unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mesquitebean · Accepted solution]

When choosing the option to pay any TurboTax fees out of the Federal refund, there are several screens and a banking agreement one has to proceed through in order to use that service.   Granted, the 34.99 fee definitely is not in large print, and some people are often in a hurry to get on with finishing the filing without closely reading the details.  In California, the fee is 39.99 and is bundled with Premium Services.

Here are the screens you should have been presented:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3699017

There's also an explanation in that thread about why there is a fee for that service.