With a fee of 44.99 per additional (different) state, that sounds like you are using the desktop (CD/download) version. Some of the desktop editions come with 1 state program included. With that one state program you can prepare multiple returns for that one state. There is a 24.99 efile fee for each state return (except free for New York.). There is no fee to print and mail the state returns.
However, each additional state program (i.e., a different state) is 44.99.
I'm not sure where you saw the figure "5." In the desktop product, you get 5 free Federal efiles.
Or perhaps you saw that the online version can prepare up to a limit of 5 different states per Federal return (but even there, each state is an additional fee of 39.99).
