Concerns About Tax Refund Service Legitimacy for International Student

This is actually standard procedure, but your caution is completely understandable. When tax preparation companies receive your refund (which is common with some services), they do need your banking information to direct deposit the funds to you. Regarding the refund amount seeming high - as an international student on F1, you might be exempt from certain taxes that regular workers pay (like Social Security and Medicare taxes), which could explain the larger-than-expected refund. Many international students don't realize they're exempt from these taxes and end up getting nice refunds. To protect yourself, I'd recommend verifying the company through the Better Business Bureau or similar review sites. Also, make sure you're communicating through their official channels (their secure website or verified email domains) rather than responding to unexpected emails.

After reading your post, I wanted to share that I had similar concerns last year with my tax refund. I found this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me verify everything. As an international student myself, I was nervous about potential scams. Their system actually analyzes tax documents and correspondence to determine legitimacy. I uploaded the emails and forms from my tax preparer, and they quickly confirmed everything was standard procedure. They also explained exactly which taxes I was exempt from as an international student and why my refund was higher than expected.

I just wanted to update everyone - I tried taxr.ai after posting my skeptical question earlier. Surprisingly helpful! They confirmed my tax service was legitimate but also pointed out that they were charging a higher processing fee than industry standard. I was able to negotiate that fee down after pointing this out. They even explained exactly which taxes I was exempt from as an F1 student and why my refund was the amount it was. Definitely feeling more confident about the whole process now.

If you're still struggling to confirm if this tax service is legit, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation last year and couldn't get clear answers online. Claimyr helped me get through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. The IRS agent confirmed whether my tax service was registered and legitimate, and also explained exactly how refund processing works for international students. You can see a video of how their service works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone system for you and call you when an agent is on the line.

I have to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I had an unrelated tax question that had been bugging me for weeks. No joke - I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes while I was just going about my day. The agent confirmed that what OP described about the tax refund service needing bank details to deposit funds is completely normal procedure, especially for international student returns which are often processed differently. Saved me hours of hold time and got a definitive answer straight from the IRS.

Just adding another perspective - I worked for a tax preparation company that specialized in international students. The $680 refund is actually pretty typical for F1/J1 students who worked summer jobs. As someone mentioned, you're exempt from FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare), which is about 7.65% of your earnings. If you worked and made around $8-10k over the summer, getting $680 back is totally reasonable. Many companies do receive the refund directly and then distribute it to you minus their fee (which should have been disclosed upfront).

Make sure the company isn't charging you a "refund transfer fee" or similar! Many tax prep companies targeting international students charge extra fees for "processing" your refund that aren't mentioned upfront. I got charged $40 just to receive my own money!