Who is TPG, and why is my Federal Return payout so much lower than expected?

[Azsugat]

Why are you taking another 1400 from me. I paid that back already and I need my money.  Why did you take it and when am I getting it back

[Cynthiad66]

I assume you mean that your tax refund was short $1,400.00.  Once your return has been accepted by the IRS, TurboTax is no longer involved in processing your refund.  All refunds are issued by the IRS or States.

Privacy Laws protect your privacy by not allowing IRS to share your information with TurboTax.  You will need to contact the IRS to determine the difference in your refund.  However, if you wait a few weeks they will provide written notification of the adjustment.  You will be provided contact information for the IRS at that time.

Please make all future refund inquires to the IRS.

@Azsugat

[toshakay1975]

Same. I doubt I will see it refunded. Not one mention of an Xtra bank fee...shady and greedy..Never will I use turbo tax agian. Sorry it happened to you also

[liasd12]

Same here, what is going on?

[jenson4267]

Who is TPG and why is my federal return less than you told me it was

[CatinaT1]

TPG (or SBTPG) is Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, which is an intermediary company that initially receives one's Federal refund if one chose to pay any TurboTax fees out of a Federal refund.

The IRS and State Governments have the ability to offset a refund to pay for certain past due debts.  You generally will receive a letter stating what the offset was for.   

The IRS provides a toll-free number, (800) 304-3107, to call for information about tax offsets. 

[Kerriev]

I did not authorize TPG to take money from my federal return

[xmasbaby0]

@Kerriev If you chose to pay your TurboTax fees from your federal refund, you certainly did agree to allow the third party bank to be paid its fee of $39.99 (or $44.99 in CA) for "refund processing."  Perhaps you did not read the information carefully enough to realize there would be a fee for refund processing, but the information about that was on the screen and you had to agree to it.    To avoid "refund processing" fees in the future, pay your software fees upfront before you file, using a credit or debit card.

When you choose "refund processing"   TurboTax gets its fees when the IRS releases your refund.  Your refund goes to the third party bank.  The bank takes out your fees and then that bank sends the rest of the refund to you.

How can I see my TurboTax  fees?   

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2565973-how-do-i-review-my-fees-in-turbotax-online

What is Refund Processing Service?

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, LLC  (SBTPG) is the bank that handles the Refund Processing Service when you choose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your refund. This option also has an additional charge from the bank that processes the transaction. 

You can contact them SBTPG, toll-free, at 1-877-908-7228 or go to their secure website www.sbtpg.com 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2580357-who-provides-the-refund-processing-service

[rbwitcher2]

I received $1,500 less than the amount shown on my return after $400 in TuboTax fees.. 

[DawnC]

If the IRS adjusted your return, they will send you an explanatory letter or notice.   See IRS Reduced Refund.

There are a few reasons why your refund might be less than what was shown in TurboTax:

• The IRS reviews the information you entered in your return and compares it with what they have in their database. If there are any discrepancies, they make adjustments accordingly and send your reduced refund.  The IRS will send you a letter explaining the adjustment, but it usually takes about three weeks to arrive. If you got your refund already, check the IRS Where’s my refund? site to see what they adjusted and how it impacted your refund. It may take several days for the site to be updated.
• When you pay your TurboTax fees with your federal refund, the TurboTax fee plus a separate Refund Processing Service (RPS) fee are deducted from your total refund amount. So your IRS-issued tax refund might be less than the amount shown in TurboTax.   The total cost of the TurboTax fee and RPS fee combined can be anywhere from $39 to $320.
• A refund offset is when the IRS applies part of, or all, your refund toward past-due income tax, child or spousal support, student loans, or state unemployment compensation debts. If this happens, check the IRS Where's My Refund? or the Bureau of the Fiscal Service site for more information.   You’ll also get a letter explaining why you didn't get your entire refund.

@rbwitcher2 

[clnia]

I did not get my full refund that I should of. I don't understand. This is a total rip off. 

[JohnB5677]

Once TurboTax releases the tax return to the IRS, it is totally in their hands.

"The Department of Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) issues IRS tax refunds. 

Through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) program, (BFS) may reduce your refund (overpayment) and offset it to pay:

• Past due Federal taxes
• Past-due child support;
• Federal agency nontax debts;
• State income tax obligations; or
• Certain unemployment compensation debts owed to a state (generally, these are debts for
  • compensation paid due to fraud, or
  • contributions owing to a state fund that weren't paid)."
• Please see the original IRS article Reduced refund

You can check the status of your tax return.  You will need:

• Social Security Number.
• Tax return year.
• Hilling Status.
• Exact refund amount

 Please click here to enter your information  Check Your Refund .

If you wish to contact the IRS, you can call toll-free at 800-829-1040 or contact a Taxpayer Assistance Center Local IRS Office.

Please contact us again with any additional questions or to provide some additional details.

[001Boomer]

My Federal return was $320 less than expected.  Additionally, there was a $260 penalty was added by IRS and subtracted from what was initially expected.  Their reason for the penalty was wording only they could understand.  I'll request plain English translation later, but, I'm afraid it's going to end up being an, 'it is what it is', no matter what argument I may present so I'm prepared for that.  Anyway, from that lesser amount deposited into my bank account by TPG Products, I found out in speaking with a representative  of that company via landline, on the day I received the deposit, that a $60 fee was deducted from the amount they received from IRS to be deposited into my bank.  I asked why there was a fee and justification for it and he related it was due to an 'outstanding debt'. (???)  He could not or would not elaborate beyond that to explain what outstanding debt  it was or how it was arrived as 'outstanding debt' and truthfully, I think he slipped up in supplying that information and the $60 fee.  Rapid and intensive questioning, I think might have caught him off guard.  This will be the very last time I will be using Turbo Tax after decades of satisfactory service.  I was surprised this happened as at the end of filing and the review of the tax reporting, Turbo Tax pointed out on their slide scale that there was ZERO chance of audit and all was correctly figured and checked for accuracy.  I feel I've gotten held up and without a gun or a knife by TPG Products!  Intuit, you need to FIX THIS, PLEASE! 

 Thanks for reading...

[VolvoGirl]

@001Boomer   Did you use the Online web  version or the Desktop installed program?  The $60 could be the $20 fee to efile a state return plus the $40 Refund Processing Service  charge to have the fee deducted from your federal refund.  

In the Desktop program you get 1 free state PROGRAM download to prepare returns in that state.  Then each state return (including the first one)  is $20 or 25 to efile except NY is free.