topic Re: Fed refund shorted by third party in After you file

Fed refund shorted by third party

Brooklyn11205 — Thu, 01 May 2025 14:09:55 GMT

mistake

Re: Fed refund shorted by third party

CatinaT1 — Thu, 01 May 2025 14:33:27 GMT

Your refund could be offset.

The IRS and State Governments have the ability to offset a refund to pay for certain past due debts.  You generally will receive a letter stating what the offset was for.  

The IRS provides a toll-free number, (800) 304-3107, to call for information about tax offsets.

Re: Fed refund shorted by third party

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 01 May 2025 14:30:38 GMT

If you choose to pay your TurboTax fees by having the fees deducted from your federal refund----instead of paying upfront with a credit or debit card before you e-file---then you are also agreeing to pay a "refund processing fee" of $40 ($45 in CA) to have your refund go from the IRS to the third party bank, which then takes your TurboTax fees from the refund and pays TT for you, keeps the $40 for itself, and sends the rest of the refund to your bank account. That is what is meant by "refund processing."

Apparently you chose to use a paid version of the software when you used online TurboTax. There are several "do-it-yourself" software programs that you must pay for, even if you enter the data yourself. You are paying for the software to do all of the calculations and put the information on the correct forms for you-- as opposed to sitting down with paper forms, a calculator and a 100+ page IRS instruction book.

When you say "I paid for TurboTax already"----what do you mean by that? Did you purchase the desktop software and then use online TurboTax by mistake?

We see people get confused and they keep logging in to online software which will require them to pay at the end. You need to use the desktop software. One way to tell if you are using the right software---your tool bar. Online software has the toolbar in a black vertical column on the left side of the screen. Desktop software has the tools up on the top of your TT screen.

You cannot pay for the use of online software using the license key for desktop download software, but if you paid for desktop, you can at least seek a refund for the purchase price of that software.

To request a refund for a TT product

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/intuit-refunds/request-refund-turbotax-product/L834M6uyW_US_en_US?uid=m6meybc2

How can I see my TurboTax fees?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/intuit-account-billing/review-fees-turbotax-online/L1XnIzgzg_US_en_US?uid=m682vq7k

What is Refund Processing Service?

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, LLC (SBTPG) is the bank that handles the Refund Processing Service when you choose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your refund. This option also has an additional charge from the bank that processes the transaction.

You can contact them SBTPG, toll-free, at 1-877-908-7228 or go to their secure website www.sbtpg.com

Re: Fed refund shorted by third party

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 01 May 2025 14:29:46 GMT

Note to other users reading this thread---original poster edited the post after receiving replies -- to remove their remarks and a screen shot that was originally included.

@Brooklyn11205 @CatinaT1

Re: Fed refund shorted by third party

Brooklyn11205 — Thu, 01 May 2025 16:08:47 GMT

I need to delete but there is no delete option. I realized that maybe I did sign up for the extra fee by having TT deduct from my refund rather than paying with a card at the time.

Re: Fed refund shorted by third party

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 01 May 2025 16:24:23 GMT

@Brooklyn11205 No need to delete your post. The user forum is educational for other users who might read and learn from your post. Glad you figured it out.