topic Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

rickcompton229 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 19:32:17 GMT

If I understand you're question correctly, I'm happy to s...

EvanP — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 19:32:18 GMT

If I understand you're question correctly, I'm happy to say that we do not charge you to guarantee a maximum refund guarantee.

Here's more information about our guarantee:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3318735

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

CGENESIS99 — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:19:48 GMT

THIS IS A BOGUS BULL**bleep** FEE !!! YOU ARE CHARGING ME 19.99 TO FILE STATE, THEN 19.99 FOR THE MAXIMUM GUARENTEE FEE. FORTY DOLLARS TO FILE ?????? IN ADDITION TO THE FIFTY FOR THE SOFTWARE !!!!!!!!!!!! IM DONE WITH YOU PEOPLE, YOU ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF US. YOU SUCK AND I WILL TELL EVERYONE TO NOT USE YOU ANYMORE.

Re: If I understand you're question correctly, I'm happy to s...

CGENESIS99 — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:20:33 GMT

YOU DO CHARGE 19.99 AND THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT !!!!!!!! CRIMINALS

Re: If I understand you're question correctly, I'm happy to s...

DoninGA — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:22:49 GMT

@CGENESIS99 wrote:

YOU DO CHARGE 19.99 AND THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT !!!!!!!! CRIMINALS

Print and mail the state return to avoid the state e-file fee. DO NOT select PAY WITH REFUND to pay any TurboTax fees with the federal tax refund.

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

mesquitebean — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:37:07 GMT

@ CGENESIS99 wrote:

THIS IS A BOGUS BULL**bleep** FEE !!! YOU ARE CHARGING ME 19.99 TO FILE STATE, THEN 19.99 FOR THE MAXIMUM GUARENTEE FEE. FORTY DOLLARS TO FILE ?????? IN ADDITION TO THE FIFTY FOR THE SOFTWARE !!!!!!!!!!!! IM DONE WITH YOU PEOPLE, YOU ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF US. YOU SUCK AND I WILL TELL EVERYONE TO NOT USE YOU ANYMORE.

This is a user community forum, but we can tell you what you are observing and how to avoid it.

In the desktop software (CD/download) there is a 19.99 fee to efile a state return, except there is no state efile fee for New York state, and no fee to print and mail the state return.

The other fee is NOT for "Maximum Guarantee". It's a service fee for the optional method of payment you chose.

If you pay the 19.99 (plus possible sales tax) upfront with credit/debit card or a prepaid debit card you can buy in a store, there is no additional fee.

However, if you choose the option to pay the 19.99 fee out of your Federal refund, there is an additional $40 service fee ($45 for California filers, where it is bundled as "Premium Services.") You can avoid that $40 or $45 fee by not selecting to pay your fees by that optional method and paying your 19.99 fee upfront directly by card as I mentioned above.

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

susandamore — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 17:21:48 GMT

When I was e-filing my returns there were two $19.99 charges - one for e-filing the state return and one for the refund guarantee, which I didn't want. I called Turbotax support and found out that the maximum refund guarantee is only charged if you have them deduct your fees from your refund.

So, if you log into your account and pay for the state return by credit card there is no maximum refund fee.

Note to Turbotax: It would be helpful if that appeared somewhere on the payment due page.

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

anthonys650 — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 05:34:08 GMT

none of the links works

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/downgrading/help/how-do-i-remove-premium-services/01/26266

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

mesquitebean — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 06:59:45 GMT

@ anthonys650 wrote:
none of the links works
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/downgrading/help/how-do-i-remove-premium-services/01/26266

You haven't adequately explained your situation, so I'm having to guess a bit. You have probably been reading instructions for removing Premium Services in Online TurboTax. Are you using the desktop software (CD/download)? We don't know what you mean by "the links to remove don't work." So since you mentioned "Mac" in 2 of your other threads, I'm going to assume you are using desktop software for Mac.

If you are using desktop software, there is a 19.99 fee to efile the state return (increases to 24.99 on March 1).

Are you in California, and is your product charging you for "Premium Services?" If so, it sounds like you chose to pay that 19.99 state efile fee out of your Federal refund instead of simply paying for it upfront with credit/debit card. If so, that payment method requires Premium Services which is an additional 44.99 (California). Premium Services also includes other benefits such as Audit Defense, ID protection/monitoring, etc.

To avoid that 44.99 fee for Premium Services you have to change the payment method and choose to pay the 19.99 upfront with a credit/debit card or a prepaid debit card you can buy in a store. After you change the payment method, make sure before filing that you look at the "order review" screen and are only going to be paying 19.99 (plus sales tax.)

If there's still an extra fee showing after all that, it might still be trying to charge you for Audit Defense, in which case one would go to the REVIEW tab, select the subtab "Audit Protection", navigate past the Audit Risk meter, and then scroll down on an Audit Defense screen and decline Audit Defense.

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

peterpa — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 01:30:40 GMT

Switch to taxslayer, they don't charge this. I am a long time turbo tax advocate and have filed this way for 10+ years. Basically you pay 25-50 bucks as a guarantee that the turbotax calculator knows without a doubt that 2+2 =4, exactly [phone number removed]000000% of the time.

I buy this product every year from Costco. When turbotax loses their costco distribution they will see a substantial loss in revenue. If you are a costco member and see this post and are irritated by the guarantee math that costs 25-50 please make your voice heard.

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

mesquitebean — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 02:19:45 GMT

@ peterpa wrote:
Basically you pay 25-50 bucks as a guarantee that the turbotax calculator knows without a doubt that 2+2 =4, exactly [phone number removed]000000% of the time.

I buy this product every year from Costco. When turbotax loses their costco distribution they will see a substantial loss in revenue. If you are a costco member and see this post and are irritated by the guarantee math that costs 25-50 please make your voice heard.

There is no such "guarantee fee" for either the Maximum Refund Guarantee or the Accurate Calculations Guarantee. Those are an included benefit. The fees mentioned in the discussion above have nothing to do with any "guarantee" which is already part of the terms of service in the license agreement (see FAQs below with links to the license). The fees at time of efiling are for additional services (if elected) as I'll explain below. If one doesn't want to pay the state efiling fee, for instance, a user can choose to print and mail the state return for free.

The original poster was misinterpreting the information on the screen and what his fees were for. Everyone gets those guarantees simply by using the product. In the desktop product a 24.99 fee is for efiling a state return (19.99 in early filing season.) If one chooses to pay that fee out of the Federal refund, there is an additional 39.99 service fee (44.99 for California filers) for that optional payment method, which can be avoided by using a credit/debit card instead to pay the state efile fee. That has nothing to do with a guarantee. If the user was seeing an extra fee, then those are the ones the user was likely seeing. Or if not in California, the user may have seen an offer for the optional product Audit Defense for 44.99. In any case, none of the fees at the time of efiling have anything to do with a guarantee, which everyone gets. The guarantee is mentioned on one of the screens for user confidence as an included benefit--not for purchase--since there is no extra fee.

FAQ: What is the Maximum Refund Guarantee?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/charges-and-fees/help/what-is-your-maximum-refund-or-tax-savings-guarantee-or-your-money-back-all-about/01/26222

FAQ: What is the Accurate Calculations Guarantee?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/charges-and-fees/help/what-is-the-turbotax-100-accurate-calculation-guarantee/01/26355

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

pogo1020 — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 00:09:07 GMT

I live in TX and there is no state income tax so I am not filing state tax form...what is the $45 Guarantee Refund fee I am being asked to pay?

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

DoninGA — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 00:26:31 GMT

@pogo1020 wrote:

I live in TX and there is no state income tax so I am not filing state tax form...what is the $45 Guarantee Refund fee I am being asked to pay?

That sounds like Max which is totally optional - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/choosing-a-product/help/what-is-max/01/26700

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

mesquitebean — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 03:01:45 GMT

@pogo1020

The optional MAX benefits package is not the same as TurboTax's Maximum Refund Guarantee.

There is no additional charge for the Maximum Refund Guarantee. That's provided to all users of TurboTax as part of the License Agreement. See this FAQ:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/charges-and-fees/help/what-is-your-maximum-refund-or-tax-savings-guarantee-or-your-money-back-all-about/01/26222

If you ARE referring to the MAX benefits package, see the FAQ link that DoninGA provided you above, which shows you all the benefits of MAX. If you don't want to purchase the optional MAX add-on, here's how to remove it prior to paying:

FAQ: Can I remove MAX?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/downgrading/help/can-i-remove-max/00/26691

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

dcstone — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 03:47:28 GMT

You are correct, thank you for sharing...it worked for me too...they should put that on the page...

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

Carl E1 — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 18:09:02 GMT

There is no way to remove the $20 change for Max Refund. Im using the Mac Desktop version and have all current updates. What is the deal? Just a bug or ...?

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

MichelleLO — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 18:24:12 GMT

Please try the steps in the below TurboTax help article to remove MAX.

Can I remove MAX?

@Carl E1

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

mesquitebean — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 23:39:40 GMT

@ Carl E1 wrote:
There is no way to remove the $20 change for Max Refund. Im using the Mac Desktop version and have all current updates. What is the deal? Just a bug or ...?

You are NOT being charged an additional fee for the max refund guarantee (which is different from MAX benefits). You appear to be using desktop software. The desktop version does not have the MAX suite of add-on features. All TurboTax products have the maximum refund guarantee, and it is free. That is not the same as the add-on MAX benefits package available to online users (for a fee).

The $20 fee you show in your image above is the state efile fee in order to efile a state return. In desktop TurboTax, efiling of the Federal return is free, but there is a $20 fee to efile a state return (except no fee for New York state return.)

The second $20 in your image where it says "Total" (in black) is merely the sum of the $0 Federal fee plus the $20 state efile fee. Since the Max Refund Guarantee badge is also on that line, I can see how it can be confusing if one does not clearly see the smaller black word "Total."

NOTE: Also, you will save money to pay the $20 state efile fee using credit/debit card. If you choose to pay the $20 fee out of your Federal refund, there is an additional $40 service fee ($45 for California filers.)

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

pegs2 — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:41:40 GMT

Thank you, susandamore for contributing your very clear answer. Turbotax is misleading folks with summarizing expenses before explaining that the Maximum Refund Guarantee is only charged if you deduct it from the refund. It's an unfortunate approach because it does look like an undisclosed and required cost. Puts a bad taste in people's mouth unnecessarily.

Your clear explanation allowed me to proceed through knowing I had an option.

Thanks!

Re: Why do I have to pay maximum refund guarantee. I don't want the guarantee

JH92262 — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 23:47:26 GMT

I reviewed Michelle's instructions and they do not make sense. I go to the File menu and do not see anything that let's me review my order and choose steps. Please clarify. I do not need Max service.