Let me walk you through how the TurboTax Refund Advance typically works: 1. When you apply for the advance, you're actually getting a loan from a partner bank 2. During tax filing, TurboTax creates a temporary bank account (sometimes called a SBTPG account) 3. Your federal refund is directed to this temporary account first 4. The bank deducts the advance amount plus any applicable fees 5. The remaining balance is forwarded to your personal bank account 6. Your state refund is typically sent directly to your personal account This structure is why they generally only take repayment from the federal refund. The state refund usually bypasses their temporary account system entirely.

Great question about budgeting with elderly parents in mind - I'm in a similar situation. From what I've experienced and researched, TurboTax Refund Advance is almost always recovered from your federal refund only, not state. The key reason is that when you accept the advance, you're essentially authorizing TurboTax's banking partner to intercept your federal refund through the IRS e-file system. State refunds are processed by individual state tax agencies and typically go directly to your bank account without passing through TurboTax's collection system. However, I'd strongly recommend calling TurboTax directly to confirm this for your specific situation, especially since you're managing finances for two people. You want to be 100% certain about the timing so you can plan appropriately. Also, make sure you understand what happens if your federal refund is less than expected due to any IRS adjustments - you'd still owe the advance amount.

This happens every year with TurboTax. I made the switch to Cash App Taxes (formerly Credit Karma Tax) and it's completely free for federal AND state, including most common forms like Schedule 3.

This is such a classic TurboTax move - they lure you in with "free" filing then hit you with upgrade requirements after you've already spent time entering everything. Schedule 3 covers nonrefundable credits like the Child Tax Credit, Education Credits, and Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver's Credit). If you contributed to an IRA or 401k and qualify for the Saver's Credit based on your income level, that would definitely trigger Schedule 3. The frustrating part is that this is a completely standard form that should be included in any legitimate "free" tax software. I'd recommend trying the actual IRS Free File program instead of these commercial "free" versions. The income limits are pretty generous and they include way more forms without trying to upsell you. You can find the real IRS Free File partners on the IRS website - just avoid going through the tax companies' own websites since they'll try to steer you to their paid versions.

Has anyone used the tax pro review add-on that most of these services offer? It's like an extra $100 but they supposedly have a pro review your return before filing. Wondering if it's just a money grab or actually worth it.

I'm in a very similar situation - got married last year, bought our first home, and started some side consulting work. I ended up going with TurboTax Deluxe and it was definitely worth the upgrade from the free version. The biggest help was with the home-related deductions. The software walked me through mortgage interest, property taxes, and even helped me figure out if I qualified for any first-time homebuyer credits I had missed. For the freelance income, it guided me through Schedule C and helped identify business expenses I hadn't thought of - like the percentage of my home internet bill I could deduct for my home office. One tip: if you do go with a paid version, buy it directly from the company's website rather than through third-party retailers. I've heard of people getting older versions or having issues with activation when buying from places like Costco or Amazon. The audit protection features are mostly peace of mind - they'll represent you if you get audited, but honestly, if you're using the software correctly and keeping good records, your audit risk is pretty low anyway. I skipped that add-on and put the extra money toward a small emergency fund for next year's quarterly tax payments instead.

I think it might be helpful to share that my NetSpend deposit just hit about 20 minutes ago! My transcript showed 3/17 as the deposit date, and it came through around 2:15pm EST today. Last year it was almost exactly the same timing. Maybe check your accounts again soon?

Just checked my NetSpend app after seeing Mikayla's update and mine hit too! Got my deposit at 2:47pm EST today (3/17). For anyone still waiting, it looks like NetSpend is releasing them in batches throughout the afternoon. I've noticed they usually do deposits in waves - early morning (12am-6am) for some people, then afternoon batches like this one. Don't panic if you haven't seen yours yet - there might be another wave later today or early tomorrow morning. The important thing is that your transcript shows the 3/17 date, which means the IRS has already sent the payment to NetSpend.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - check if your employers correctly calculated your withholding after you changed your W-4s in September. I had a similar issue and discovered my payroll department kept withholding at the Single rate even though I submitted the updated form. Also, did either of you have any additional income besides your regular jobs? Even small amounts of extra income with no withholding (like interest, dividends, side gigs) can throw off your withholding calculations.

That $3,000 in freelance income is definitely contributing to why you owe! When you have self-employment income without withholding, you not only owe regular income tax on it but also self-employment tax (about 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare). So on that $3,000, you're looking at roughly: - Income tax: ~$660 (assuming 22% marginal rate) - Self-employment tax: ~$424 (after the deduction for employer portion) That's over $1,000 right there, which explains most of your tax bill. For 2023, you'll want to either make quarterly estimated payments on any freelance income or increase your withholding from your regular jobs to cover it. The IRS generally wants you to pay as you earn, not all at once in April. You can use Form 1040-ES to calculate quarterly payments, or just have extra withheld from your W-4 jobs by adding a specific dollar amount on line 4c of your W-4s.