Turbo Tax E-Filing Question

[Drake3287]

Sort of a strange one here. I purchased the typical "Premier" Turbo Tax program from Costco which includes 5 free Federal e-filings plus 1 State e-filing.

I've always printed and mailed in the past but today we did our daughters taxes first and then at the end we decided to e-file her taxes for the first time.

When we did this the program stated that Turbo Tax will deduct it's fee from her refund for e-filing both these federal and State taxes, even though the software clearly states it includes these free e-filings with the program.

Is this just a standard Turbo Tax fee statement and it self corrects when the filing happens? Not going to be happy if they deduct an extra from her for nothing. Thanks for any insight or suggestions.

 

[Jerry1]

Only the Federal filing fee is included. They are charging you for the state e-filing fee. Where did you see that 1 State filing is included?

 

[Souschef]

As I recall, Federal filing is free, but there is a $20 charge for filing the State. You can either have it deducted or pay with a credit card, which I did

 

[Philliefan33]

The “one free state” for TurboTax refers to the opportunity to download the ability to prepare state income taxes for one state

 

[njhowie]

Jerry and Souschef are correct. See attached off the Costco website.

 

[ocean view]

You can opt to e-file just the Fed and then paper file the state if you don’t want to pay the state fee. This is what I do.

 

[lemming]

Don't I mean DON'T have the fees deducted from her refund-Pay it up front. They will charge $45 for the privilege of you not using your credit card now. That is 1999% interest on a loan of $30. Check out freefile programs next time for your daughter. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-to-file-state-federal-taxes-free-2020
Getting a state means getting the software not the filing fee.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Just uncheck the state e-file box so you're only e-filing the Federal and the charge should go away.

 

[Drake3287]

The “one free state” for TurboTax refers to the opportunity to download the ability to prepare state income taxes for one state

I just now read this on the package, thanks. I just assumed it meant we had 5 federal e-filings and 1 state e-file but of course it actually means 1 free state download, not filing. I'm sure I'm not the first person who hasn't read the fine print!

At least she's getting money back, to bad about wasting $20. though. I'll be better prepared when I do my own!

 

[Jerry1]

I'm sure I'm not the first person who hasn't read the fine print!

Yeah, I've never done that. Oh well, stuff happens.

At least she's getting money back, to bad about wasting $20. though. I'll be better prepared when I do my own!

My daughter came over and did her return. She came out of the office and said she was done. I asked about e-filing the State and she said yes and that she was just glad to have it done. I'm like, Seriously? You spent $20 instead of less than a $1 to send it in? "Yep. Just glad I'm done."

I'll spend money all day on stuff I want, but I just cant see spending it on things like fees that bring me no value and have reasonable alternatives like this one did. Whatever. I guess she has more money than me. Certainly more money than sense.

 

[Midpack]

You can opt to e-file just the Fed and then paper file the state if you don’t want to pay the state fee. This is what I do.

+1, every year. I would think it would be much more efficient/advantageous for states to receive eFiles instead of paper - so they’d make eFile free and charge a premium for paper! But politicians sometimes try to be inefficient to create/keep jobs?

 

[Out_the_Door]

Just uncheck the state e-file box so you're only e-filing the Federal and the charge should go away.

This is what I did as the popup is worded strangely. Also since my taxes wasn't too complicated this year I just went straight to my state's tax site (CA) and E-filed with them directly (using the info that turbotax already provided) and saving me $20


And just as an aside, printing and filing a paper return is not an option as I do not have a printer. In fact, I do not have any friends that own a printer.

 

[CardsFan]

My daughter came over and did her return. She came out of the office and said she was done. I asked about e-filing the State and she said yes and that she was just glad to have it done. I'm like, Seriously? You spent $20 instead of less than a $1 to send it in? "Yep. Just glad I'm done."

I'll spend money all day on stuff I want, but I just cant see spending it on things like fees that bring me no value and have reasonable alternatives like this one did. Whatever. I guess she has more money than me. Certainly more money than sense.

At the risk of sounding like a spendthrift, I feel the same as your daughter. I pay the state e-file fee. It's over and done with. I get confirmation it was accepted. It can't get lost in the mail. It can't get lost in the state mail room.

Maybe this should in the "Blow the Dough" thread .

 

[Sunset]

Wow.. I'm cheap...
I use the H&R Block software because it's cheaper, then I e-file the Fed return for free, then I go to IL .gov site and type in the values for the State return so I can file it free there.

 

[skipro33]

One issue with letting TurboTax or H&R block deduct their fee from the refund is demonstrated this year when the stimulus checks were sent out. Seems the way TT and HR do this is to capture your ENTIRE refund into their bank account, then transfer the balance minus their fee to your bank account. Then, the feds come along and use TT's bank account as the one to send the stimulus funds to. I heard it was a real mess there for a while, still not sure it ever all got straightened out. I am too lazy to paper file, so I pay the HR fee, not through my refund, but directly from my checking account. (They already know the account number for the refund anyways, so I don't think there's any more risk here doing it this way)

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

This is what I did as the popup is worded strangely. Also since my taxes wasn't too complicated this year I just went straight to my state's tax site (CA) and E-filed with them directly (using the info that turbotax already provided) and saving me $20


And just as an aside, printing and filing a paper return is not an option as I do not have a printer. In fact, I do not have any friends that own a printer.

Me to, CalFile is easy to fill out for free.

 

[PatrickA5]

At the risk of sounding like a spendthrift, I feel the same as your daughter. I pay the state e-file fee. It's over and done with. I get confirmation it was accepted. It can't get lost in the mail. It can't get lost in the state mail room.

Maybe this should in the "Blow the Dough" thread .

You and me both. Been paying the $20 to efile the state for many years. Don't really care. The only time I mess with mailing a return is if I go over my 5 free Fed e-files. I usually do 6 or 7 a year.

 

[rk911]

At the risk of sounding like a spendthrift, I feel the same as your daughter. I pay the state e-file fee. It's over and done with. I get confirmation it was accepted. It can't get lost in the mail. It can't get lost in the state mail room.

Maybe this should in the "Blow the Dough" thread .

this. i used to E-file the fed and US mail our state. even sent certified/return receipt always led to a bit of anxiety until the RR card came back. and it sometimes didn't come back so i would verify delivery with the tracking #. now i e-file the state and relax. $20, to us, is nothing.

 

[CardsFan]

this. i used to E-file the fed and US mail our state. even sent certified/return receipt always led to a bit of anxiety until the RR card came back. and it sometimes didn't come back so i would verify delivery with the tracking #. now i e-file the state and relax. $20, to us, is nothing.

And, for the record, the cost of certified mail is about $3.50, so it really only costs $16.50 to e-file

 

[rk911]

And, for the record, the cost of certified mail is about $3.50, so it really only costs $16.50 to e-file

plus the cost of the return receipt. we don't pinch pennies...well, i don't. maybe this thread does belong on "blow that dough".

 

[ocean view]

plus the cost of the return receipt. we don't pinch pennies...well, i don't. maybe this thread does belong on "blow that dough".

For the record, a proof of delivery receipt (the USPS green return receipt card for an additional fee) is not required by the IRS to prove that a tax return was timely filed. You only need to show a proof of mailing, which a postmarked USPS certified mail receipt satisfies. For peace of mind, you can use the tracking number on the certified receipt to confirm the delivery.

After years of dutifully filling out those blasted green cards during my working years and having only half come back, we were thrilled when on-line tracking became available.