Can a CPA deduct their fee directly from your tax refund like TurboTax does?

While some tax preparers offer refund transfer services similar to TurboTax, it's not as common with individual CPAs. The professional practice is typically to pay your tax preparation fees upfront or when the service is completed, before your return is filed. The service you're referring to is called a Refund Transfer (RT) or Refund Anticipation Check (RAC). Large tax preparation chains like H&R Block offer this, but independent CPAs usually don't because they'd need special banking arrangements with financial institutions to process these transfers. It also involves additional fees from those financial institutions that get passed on to you. You might ask the CPA if they offer payment plans or if they're willing to wait until your refund arrives before collecting payment, but they're unlikely to have a system to automatically deduct their fee from your refund like TurboTax does.

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I tried out taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and wow, it actually works! I uploaded my 1099s and W-2s, and it immediately flagged that I was missing some home office deductions for my freelance work. The analysis showed me exactly what I could legitimately claim and what documentation I needed. I ended up taking their report to a local tax preparer who charged me $175 upfront (couldn't get it deducted from my refund unfortunately), but because I was so prepared with all the right documents and deduction categories, the process took half the time it normally would. The preparer was impressed and actually found a few more deductions based on the taxr.ai recommendations. My refund ended up being almost $900 more than last year with similar income! Definitely recommend checking it out before you decide how to file.

If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to ask about refund transfer options, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS about a similar question last year - kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 30 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to ask the agent directly about payment options with different tax preparers and got official guidance instead of relying on internet advice. The agent confirmed that while large tax chains and software offer refund transfers, most independent CPAs require payment when service is rendered. She also mentioned some CPAs offer payment plans if you ask.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After calling BS on it, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS for 3 weeks about an incorrect 1099 that was filed. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 45 minutes (they estimated 40, so pretty close). The agent was able to help me resolve my issue in one call. I would have NEVER gotten through on my own - I had already tried calling over a dozen times at different times of day and kept getting the "due to high call volume" message and disconnected. To answer the original poster's question - I asked the IRS agent about tax preparers taking fees from refunds, and she confirmed what others said: major chains and software can do it, individual CPAs typically don't have that capability. She recommended asking about payment plans if cash flow is an issue.

Former tax preparer here. Most independent CPAs and smaller firms don't offer refund transfers because: 1) They need a special bank relationship to set up temporary accounts 2) There are compliance and banking regulations to follow 3) It costs the preparer money to offer this service That's why you usually only see this at big chains like H&R Block or with software like TurboTax. Also, be aware that when you DO use a refund transfer service, you're usually paying an extra fee ($30-40 typically) on top of the preparation fee for that convenience. If cash flow is tight, ask your CPA if they'll accept a credit card or if they offer payment plans. Some might also be willing to prepare everything and just hold off on e-filing until you pay them, but most won't file without payment.

Has anyone used a bank product like Republic Bank Tax Refund Solutions? My tax guy said he can offer a refund transfer through them, but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra fee ($39.95 in my case). Also slightly worried about delaying my refund by adding another party to the transaction.