What am supposed to do when the estimated refund is far less than the cost of the service provided by TurboTax?

[xmasbaby0]

The fee for using TurboTax is not based on the amount of your refund.   It is based on the version of the software you used to prepare your tax return.   The version of the software you used would be the same fee even if you owe money to the IRS instead of getting a refund.   

If you have not filed your tax return and want to use other software that you think would be cheaper or free, you can do that if you want to.

Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free.  There are 8  free software versions available from the IRS Free File site

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

Or—if you live in certain states you may be eligible to use the new IRS Direct File

In Filing Season 2025, Direct File will be available in Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

https://directfile.irs.gov/

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2629

[VolvoGirl]

If you want to file from Turbo Tax and your federal refund is not big enough to cover the fees plus the extra $40 pay with refund charge you will have to pay the fees with a credit card.  

[fanfare]

see hundreds of forum posts on issues resulting from pay-with-refund.

@Zkapp287