Why am I being charged a processing fee?

[brandystephenson218]

What is a processing fee?

[xmasbaby0]

If you mean the refund processing fee----that is the EXTRA $40 ($45 in CA) fee you pay if you choose to pay for using TurboTax software from your federal refund instead of paying upfront with a credit or debit card before you file your tax return.  You do not have to make that choice.   Pay before you file.

What is Refund Processing Service?

If your refund is enough to cover your TurboTax fees PLUS the extra “refund processing” fee of $40 ($45 in CA) and your forms are ready then when you are in the FILE section you can choose to have your fees deducted from your federal refund by a third party bank, who will take out your fees and send you the rest of your refund after the IRS issues the refund. 

Please make note that if your refund takes too long to arrive (IRS delays, etc.) then you will also be agreeing that the TurboTax fees can be extracted from your bank account even before your refund is issued by the IRS.  This comes as an unpleasant shock to many people every year.  

 If you can possibly pay your fees upfront using a debit or credit card, it will save you that extra fee and even more importantly, the possible aggravation and delays that are often the result of poor handling/poor customer service by that third party bank.  We see way too many instances where refunds are delayed for months when users choose refund processing. There have been lots of complaints; there are a number of things that can go wrong when you use refund processing.  I suggest avoiding that situation if at all possible.  

And....you can never pay state tax due from a federal refund, so do not expect that.   The state tax due has to be paid directly to your state.

How can I see my TurboTax  fees? 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/intuit-account-billing/review-fees-turbo...

If your TurboTax fees are higher than expected, you can reduce them by removing add-ons     (BEFORE you e-file) :

• Remove Premium Services
• Remove MAX Defend & Restore
• Remove a state
• Remove PLUS Help & Support
• Remove Pay With Your Refund

[wildcatPaul]

I paid for TurboTax at Amazon and downloaded the software. I have been using TurboTax every year since 2004. I have never paid for a "processing" fee!

If this is something new I will need to consider other vendors.

Paul Andrews

[xmasbaby0]

Nothing new.   There has been a "refund processing fee" for many years---you pay the processing  fee if you choose to pay  your TurboTax fees by having them deducted from your federal refund instead of paying upfront before you file by using your own credit or debit card.   If you are using the download software, you may have made the terrible mistake of saying you would pay the $25 state e-file fee from your federal refund---which ends up costing you the $25 + a $40 processing fee.  Do not do that.   Look very carefully at the screen that offered you the choice to pay from your refund and you will see another box to the left of it that you can click to pay using your own card.

[Suezanlee]

How to decline $25 state fee processing when $40 additional fee is charged for refund processing.

[CatinaT1]

You can review your fees by following the instructions below.   

• After signing in to TurboTax, open or continue your return. 
• Select Tax Tools on the left side of the screen and then Tools. 
• A Tools Center box will pop up on your screen. 
• Select the My Fees box on the right. 

If your TurboTax fees are higher than expected, you can reduce them by removing add-ons: 

• Remove PLUS Help & Support 
• Remove Pay With Your Refund 
• Remove Premium Services 
• Remove MAX Defend & Restore 
• Remove a state 

[xmasbaby0]

With desktop software there is always a $25 state e-file fee.  You can avoid that fee if you choose to print and mail the state return instead.   And you can refuse that $40 refund processing fee by paying the $25 upfront using a credit or debit card instead of choosing to pay the $25 from your federal refund.  Look very carefully at that screen.   You are given two options---one is to pay using your own card--it is on the left.   The other option is to pay using your federal refund---choose that one and you are paying a grand total of $65 to e-file a state return.

[tjones5536]

I am supposed to get 5 free federal Efiles, but I have been charged $40 for the 2 I did.  why is this?

[xmasbaby0]

@tjones5536 You get five federal e-files if you are using the desktop download.   We cannot see what you are using or what you might have added to incur an extra fee of $40.  Are you certain you are using desktop software?

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.