When you use a card to make a purchase from a store or online, the merchant pays the credit card co's processing fee (which is usually a percentage of the purchase amount).
However, the IRS is forbidden by law to pay this, so the fee must be charged to you.
I filed and elected to pay by credit card. I did not notice the processing fee which is a % of the payment I believe. This must be a processing charge from the IRS. My payment was significant so the fee is significant, I called the IRS e-file # but they were not able to help. I want to change my payment method away from credit card given the high fee but have already filed.
Too late. You cannot change what has already been done.
The fees are not hidden and provided for by law.
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-credit-or-debit-card">https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-credit-or-debit-card</a>
When you use a card to make a purchase from a store or online, the merchant pays the credit card co's processing fee (which is usually a percentage of the purchase amount).
However, the IRS is forbidden by law to pay this, so the fee must be charged to you.
I also received a VPS "tax service fee" of $20.17 and I have no idea what that is for?? If it is a "convenience" fee for maybe submitting your taxes online ...well Turbo Tax is an ONLINE service...I already paid almost $70 to pay for their online tax prep. Turbo Tax is just not as affordable or user friendly as they used to be. Last year I was aware of a lot of people posting that they got hit with a huge fee for Turbo Tax using a third party to just process their prep fee directly from your refund...it was in the fine print somewhere or was just not clear... but obviously it was missed by a lot of people (which I felt was intentional) and they made a lot of money off of it...that "convenience" fee was almost as much as the prep fee...so..beware...and check out other tax services like Tax Act..Turbo Tax is taking advantage of their loyal customers in my opinion.
The VPS fee is charged for using a credit card when you pay on the IRS site using a debit/credit card
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-credit-or-debit-card">https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-credit-or-debit-card</a>
The turbo tax website states that debit cards are only charged a flat fee of $2?
I still don't see any breakdown of any fee other than the prep fee when i look at my "details" online
You are not going to see the fee for using your card on the IRS site on your TT account. TT did not assess that charge. Please see the response below from SweetieJean.
Sorry, but you haven't given enough information to do a proper search. "VPS fee" doesn't bring up much. Was this term in TurboTax or on something that you had? The term may be specific to where you saw it - such as on a paystub, an investment that had, a business expense, etc.
Are you confused about the Refund Processing Fee RPF?
That is a fee that is added if you choose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your federal refund instead of paying TurboTax upfront using a credit card when you file. A third party bank receives the refund, extracts the fees for TurboTax and sends you the rest. The fee for that choice is $39.99 ($44.99 in CA)
How do you explain a fee of $171.31 that is tagged as "VPS IRS INTUIT"?
The VPS fee is charged for using a credit card when you pay on the IRS site using a debit/credit card
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-credit-or-debit-card">https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-credit-or-debit-card</a>
I had two VPS fees, one that was for the prep and another for $20, and it is not specific as to what they are for anywhere...it should have a name......online it says using a debit card has a flat fee of $2 or $2 and change..you can't talk to anyone but some community website to try to get answers so...by the time I figure it out I would have wasted $20 of my time
This is absolutely outrageous. I used Turbo Tax and chose to pay by credit card. I was charged 2.49% service fee through VPS Tax Service. I never saw any disclosure or warning that their would be another $168 "convenience fee" to use my credit card to pay through Turbo Tax software on top of already paying for the software and the filing fees ($110). Turbox Tax is an online services. Why am I being charged again?? This needs to be disclosed to your customers!!!
After I was charged the $168 fee, I found the notification on an IRS website (hidden under additional information link) that states that the 3rd party service Pay1040.com charges 2.49 percent when using Turbo Tax. I did not have a choice in the TT system prompts to choose another credit card processor. It was not disclosed on the screen, or the fact that 2.49 is higher than what the three processors charge if you do not go through Turbox Tax. Other processors on the IRS charge less then 2% - but it is disclosed when you use the IRS site. Using Turbo Tax - you are blind sided to this until it is too late.
Whether you use the direct pay on the IRS website to pay by credit card or you set up the same payment through the TurboTax filing you will pay the same VPS fee either way. This is not a fee that turbo tax charges, this is the third party processing charge that the IRS uses. As already mentioned the IRS is forbidden to reduce your taxes by the amount the credit card company charges for fees there for the taxpayer has to pay the credit card fees so it's added to your bill not subtracted from the irs's balance due.
And you'd best look at your credit card statement as well, because most credit cards also will hit you with a cash advance fee for paying your taxes using the credit card. Paying any taxes with a credit card is never a smart option unless you earn something like points, cash back or airline miles to make up for the fee or fees you have to pay.
Perhaps - But Turbox Tax is getting some of this fee - if not why are the charging more than others. I called the Pay1040 and they said Turbo Tax Charges 2.49 percent. So its part of the business model for Turbo Tax.
Turbo Tax does not disclose these fees in the software. That is shameful. After using their "Service" for over 20 years , I am done. I have asked TT for a full refund of what I paid them this year. Way to go guys.
The fee was disclosed 3 times and you had to agree to the fee before you could continue ... if you did not want to incur the fee you should have said no and choose another payment option ... you had the option to pay directly on the IRS site instead ... see their fee structure below.
That is BS. You need to notify users that if they choose credit card they will be charged the VPS fee. Failure to disclose that is on you, Turbotax.
That is BS. You need to notify users that if they choose credit card they will be charged the VPS fee. Failure to disclose that is on you, Turbotax.
This post by @Critter correctly states that the fees were disclosed and other payment options available.
Did you *read* the post by Critter in this thread? It most certainly IS disclosed - very clearly.