I was charged $86 by TurboTax when I thought it was free as advertised. Is there anyway to get a refund? EDIT - TURBOTAX REFUNDED ME

[ddiorio1610]

EDIT: Angela P. of TurboTax is an angel and worked with me, realized that I should not have been charged for the deluxe version, and refunded me the full amount of my payment. 

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

This is not official customer support and if they told you no refunds, I doubt that will change.

Turbotax is free to start, and free for simple returns.  When you don't have a simple return (by Turbotax definition), they tell you you need to upgrade to Deluxe for $39.99, and they tell you again that in the Deluxe version, your state is an extra $39.99.  Then you see the fees before you check out.  So you had at least 3 warnings about your fees.  Because you only pay when you are ready to file, they say that payment constitutes proof you are satisfied with the service.  If you don't want to pay, that is when you need to quit and go elsewhere.  Also, payment unlocks the ability to view and print a complete tax return.  So you could pay, print your complete return, mail it in or copy it to another free site, and then ask for a refund and end up getting the paid version for free through a back door.

I don't know what situation disqualified you from free filing, and other providers do extend free filing to situations that Free Turbotax doesn't cover.  But you had plenty of warnings that Turbotax was not free for you this season.  If a support person told you no refunds over the phone, you won't get a different answer here.

[Opus 17]

You also can't file twice, so if you actually transmitted your Turbotax return (one step after payment) then your HRB return should end up getting rejected.  If you transmitted them both fairly close in time to each other, then it will be pretty random as to which one the IRS processes first and which one gets rejected.

[ddiorio1610]

I did not transmit and submit the return on TurboTax. My return is still in progress and I never gave info on where to send the refund or electronically signed and filed. My warning to everyone out there is to be careful - H and R block was so much more transpararent with their pricing and it got me the exact same refund. I’d definitely recommend HRB

[ddiorio1610]

I know for a fact that my tax filing situation falls under the free version of TurboTax -- I have a single W-2, I took a standard deduction and there were no schedules/credits or any of that. I must have messed up somewhere and I understand I won't be getting a refund - it's just a shame I did not go with HRB to begin with since I essentially lit $86 on fire.

[Opus 17]

I’m glad you had a successful result.  This board is not official customer service so we can’t see your return and evaluate if the charge is correct.  Glad someone else was able to help you.