How Do I Avoid Paying TurboTax Fees? Why Is TurboTax Charging Me A Fee?

You can avoid the fee by changing your payment method and paying with a card when you file.

Avoid the extra $40 fee by paying upfront with a credit/debit card before you file.

Kathleen DeLaney Thomas, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, tells Money it’s not just a TurboTax issue. It’s part of a trend — “the latest in what’s been a history of various methods tax software companies have used to get extra money from taxpayers,” she says.

A spokeswoman for Intuit, which makes TurboTax, tells Money that the service is “an added convenience offered for those customers who don’t have their credit card handy — and is completely optional.”

“A customer can change their payment method prior e-filing by revisiting the payment options screen and selecting Pay with Credit Card,” she added.

Why Is TurboTax Charging Me A Fee?
That is the service charge of the third party processor who receives the federal tax refund from the IRS, deducts the TurboTax account fees and their service charge.

Then deposits the remaining refund into the account requested by the taxpayer.