Do NOT deduct from your refund to pay for turbotax, a refund processing fee $34.99 will be charged in extra.

[baozhou1]

Do NOT deduct from your refund to pay for turbotax, a refund processing fee $34.99 will be charged in extra. Turbotax doesn't show this important information in the process, a fiendish and nasty way to generate revenue.

[Rashaud · Accepted solution]

If you choose to deduct the TurboTax fees from your refund, SBTPG (Santa Barbara Tax Products Group) opens a temporary bank account in your name at one of their 2 banks--Civista Bank of Sandusky, Ohio or Green Dot Bank. They receive your funds from the IRS, subtract the fees, then send the rest of your funds on to your bank account in a second direct deposit.  Then they close the temporary bank account they set up for you. There is a 34.99 service fee for that option (39.99 in California, where it is bundled with Premium Services.)

You can avoid the Refund Processing fee by paying your TurboTax fees with a credit or debit card instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301372

Please note that once your e-filed return is in pending or accepted status, it's too late to remove the Refund Processing Service.

However, if your return gets rejected and you decide to file a paper return, the Refund Processing Service and related fees, if any, drop off anyway because Refund Processing is only available on e-filed returns.

Depending on when you filed, it is possible for you to contact us and pay your fees over the phone via card and thus skip the 34.99 fee charged by SBTPG.

Luckily since you're a Deluxe user, you can contact us and speak to a live agent for assistance:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3300041

[dcturner45]

hi

[baozhou1]

I think you probably encounter the same issue?

[sefcik]

Wow!  Turbo Tax.... what have you done this year?  You were a trusted tax return prep software, but not now!  This was so sneaky and deceiving and I am a 40 year CPA who didn't even know what happened or how until (thank God) I printed the return out to check it and saw all the strange and crazy paperwork!  39.99 called "tax preparation fees", so my refund can go to them instead of me and then they can pay it to me?  What kind of idiots do you think people are?  What a terrible marketing idea!! I'm sure you are getting a cut, but the lost revenue in the future because of this will make you very, very sorry you made the decision to throw this deceiving gimmick into your software!  I plan to publish this notice as many times and to as many people as I can!  I still cannot believe it happens right after it says file federal for free and 19.99 for state filing.  It is really not obvious as to what is happening and I'm sure the normal person will miss it!  Sad, very sad.

[Kendia_R]

I wish I had known about this sneaky bs before I filed with them. I had no idea because I always use my federal to file. They didn't tell me about that extra $40 until I had already e-filed! Never using them again that was a very underhanded thing to pull!

[LGab36]

I wish I would have known about the $40 charge as well. I wasn't given the option to file for free this year with them. It would only let me file them if I upgraded for $70. I just wanted to get them done because I was over the hassle of dealing with TurboTax. They ended up getting $150 of my return with the extra charges. I will be doing my taxes differently next year. Shame on you TurboTax!!! 

[Anonymous]

Ridiculous. Switched to use another service because of this. Was already paying for deluxe and they sneak in this extra fee?

I've deleted my data and moved to another service. Also informed my family and friends of this skulduggery. Would use another word, but I'm afraid my comment wouldn't be posted with it. 

[sefcik]

But why is this even a problem? Who decided that we needed a bank to intervene in a direct process that was working well? Someone sold Intuit a bill of goods and they will make money and most likely Intuit will get a cut. We already paid for TurboTax, filing should be free, as advertised!! This is disgraceful and I will be publishing a warning on every forum I have access to. You have lost my tax prep software business and my guess is you will lose much, much more than you dreamed of gaining. You need to apologize to America if you want to save your tax prep business!

[SForrestLO]

If you choose to have your Turbo Tax Fees deducted from your refund, there is a fee. Turbo Tax is not a bank. Therefore, Santa Barbara bank charges a fee for their service. If you choose this option, there is a page that explains the process and you have to agree to it to move on. After you read the page, and choose not to agree to it, then you will have to pay for your fees before you file. 

What is Refund Processing Service?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/choosing-a-product/help/what-is-refund-processing-service/00/25889