@ Info411 wrote:
The $25 fee used to be deducted from your state refund
It has never been possible to pay any fees from a state refund. TurboTax doesn't have any arrangement with state tax agencies to collect that fee for TurboTax. Moreover, state refunds go directly from the state tax agency to the user without going through any intermediary bank where TurboTax could have access to it in order to take out the fee, unlike when fees are paid out of a Federal refund.
It IS possible to pay the $25 state efile fee out of a Federal refund, but that's not a good idea, since the service fee for that "pay out of refund" option is $40 ($45 for California filers.)
Like you said, it's best to either pay the $25 state efile fee upfront by credit/debit card, or print and mail the state return for no fee. There is no state efile fee for New York state.
