I'm not challenging your expertise but I need to understand. I have a 10 year background in accounting and 25 years as a computer programmer/analyst, so I do not consider myself as being dumb.
You say that TT would never take any $$ out of a state refund. If I hadn't paid the $24.99 e-filing fee TT does say in the dialog that $39.99 ($40) would be taken out of my state refund instead.
