Why is it making me pay $59 for Turbo Tax Deluxe for a $48 Retirement Savings Tax Break? And I'm getting over $1400 back but says its not enough?

[NCperson]

@angelamarieellis  a few things

1) yeah, the upgrade is required to get the tax credit - doesn't make any sense.  Eliminate the credit and downgrade the software.  The IRS won't care

2) on the $1400 - and maybe you haven't gotten to this section yet - in the Federal Review section it's going to ask about the Recovery Rebate Credit. If you received the $1400 stimulus last spring, it's important to tell Turbo Tax that.  You are eligible for either the Recovery Rebate Credit or last year's stimulus, but not both. If you received the stimulus, then Line 30 of Form 1040 should be zero and the refund on the screen will drop by $1400. 

[Critter-3]

If your income is $73K or less then keep the saver's credit and do NOT pay for the program fee at all by simply using one of the totally free  IRS FREE FILE options and stop using TT completely.  FYI ... even though your total refund is more than the TT fee of $59 + the processing fee of $40  they will not allow you to have the fees withheld from any part of the stimulus credit ($1400) on line 30 of the form 1040 so you either pay the fee upfront yourself or use a free program...    

Free File: Do your Federal Taxes for Free | Internal Revenue Service

[Opus 17]

Turbotax charges based on the complexity of your tax return, not the amount of your refund.  If you are considered "low income" and you contribute to a 401k or other retirement plan at work, you qualify for a saver's credit that pays you back some of the retirement savings.   Claiming this credit requires a program up-charge to the Deluxe version.   If the credit is large, you may just want to pay the upcharge to get the credit.  If you want to remove the retirement saver's credit and not get the forced up-charge, you have to tell Turbotax you are a full time student, that makes you ineligible for the credit. 

Or as noted, there may be other software companies that offer true free filing through the IRS FreeFile program.