Why am I being charged $20 for federal e-filing?

[metrangia]

I bought TurboTax Premiere with these features:

Premier
Includes 5 federal e-files
Includes 1 state download
State e-file sold separately

I e-filed one federal return already, at no cost to me.

Now I am about to file the second one, and I am being asked to pay $20.

(It's actually $40:  $20 for state and $20 for federal.)

I understand the $20 for state, but why am I being charged an additional $20 for state?

[metrangia]

Or am I misunderstanding this, and it's it's really charging me $0 for federal, and $40 for state?  That makes no sense either, as I am eligible for 20% off of the $25 state fee.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

That does not sound right.  Are you sure you are not seeing a $40 refund processing fee ---- which would be an EXTRA fee to have that $20 deducted from your federal refund instead of paying the $20 upfront with a credit or debit card before you file?   Be careful----it will give you the chance to have the state e-file fee deducted from your federal refund and charge an extra $40 to do that.

[metrangia]

Yes, you're right.  It does say "$40 Refund Processing Fee".  I didn't realize that they have a variety of fees.

So are you saying that I can pay $20 by credit card, or reduce my refund by $40?

I was going to pay by credit card anyway, but I haven't yet been asked to choose how to pay.

I'm at the point where it's asking for billing address.  Let me go further and see what happens...

I input my address and credit card, and it charged me $20 plus sales tax.

I don't know why it would mention $40 and then charge me $20, without even asking me to decide which way I wanted to pay the fee.  Very confusing...

Thanks for your help!

[VolvoGirl]

Yes you can pay by credit card.  But you have to choose it first.  Go back through the File tab.

You have to go through the File tab SLOWLY and read the screens.  People get going too fast and clicking on the right corner box to continue.  But you have to click on the left box to pay with a credit card to avoid the fee. See the very last post with screenshot on this one 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/why-can-t-i-remove-premium-service-benefits-from-... 

[metrangia]

I've been using TT for over 20 years and overall have been pleased with it.  But the never-ending nagging me to upgrade the version, pay for expert help, and pay for audit defense, is super annoying.

This is the first time I am e-filing my state return, and what appears to be a hidden way to extract more dollars from my wallet is terrible.

@VolvoGirl, I'm not sure about what you said, because I don't remember selecting a box to pay with credit card, but in the end I did, despite the fact that it told me it was going to charge a $40 Refund Processing Fee.

If I get charged more than expected, I will be back.  Thanks for your help!