What is the $45 premium service charge for?

[neilman2u]

I purchased tt deluxe in january, and upon completing my return, I was prepared to e-file both my federal and state returns.  I declined the audit defense, but my screen captures showed that I was charged additionally $45 for 'premium service'.

[xmasbaby0]

"Premium service" is an EXTRA $45 fee in CA that is added if you choose to pay your other TurboTax fees by having them deducted from your federal refund instead of by paying upfront BEFORE you file by using a credit or debit card to pay.   Are you e-filing a state return?  If so, if you pay the $25 state e-file fee from your federal refund instead of by paying using your own credit card, you are getting smacked with an extra $45 fee to allow a third party bank to receive your federal refund, take out $25 for TT, keep the $45 for itself, and send you the rest.

[neilman2u]

Thank you for the explanation but this is still frustrating.

I tried to pay by credit card but their drop-down menu would not reveal the '01' month for me to select no matter what I did to get around the issue, e.g. adjust the display setting on my Windows 11 operating system. 

I should have returned this program to Costco. Unfortunately, it is already 4/15 and I didn't want to bother with an extension, since I have elderly parents to take care of.

I may be done with TT, esp. considering that they have a wealth of data on me that they sell to who knows(?)

Cannot get a live person on their chat, which seems to be replaced by an AI, and after finally getting a live person on the phone, he (London) turns out to be super-rude. I have choice words for him. This is a real scam...