Filed 2/25 with TurboTax - When Will Refund Arrive with Fees Taken Out?

When you have fees taken out of your refund, it's like your money has to take a detour through an extra toll booth. TurboTax sends your return to the IRS, but your refund gets sent to a temporary bank account first where they take their cut before forwarding the rest to you. This typically adds 3-5 business days to the process, sometimes more if you're in the unlucky batch that hits processing delays.

The infamous TurboTax refund hostage situation! 😂 But seriously, this is why I hate the whole "fees from refund" option - it's like paying extra to wait longer. If you want to track what's actually happening with your return, check out https://taxr.ai - it helped me decode my transcript when TurboTax was giving me the runaround. It showed my refund was actually approved but stuck in this weird limbo between IRS approval and TurboTax's processing partner releasing funds. Saved me from calling TurboTax support for the 5th time.

According to the IRS2Go app and multiple threads on r/TaxRefund, people who filed around 2/25 with refund transfers are seeing deposits this week. Check the TurboTax refund tracker at https://mytaxrefund.turbotax.com/ as it sometimes updates before the IRS Where's My Refund tool. Also worth looking at your transcript at irs.gov/transcripts if you can access it - look for code 846 which means refund issued.

If you're really concerned about the delay, you might want to try reaching the IRS directly, though it's probably just the normal processing time for refund transfers. I've found that Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) can potentially save you hours of waiting on hold if you do need to speak with an IRS representative. They'll essentially wait in the phone queue for you and call you when an agent is available, which is quite helpful during peak tax season when wait times can be, in some cases, upwards of 2 hours.

CALL TURBOTAX DIRECTLY AT 800-446-8848. Don't waste time with the IRS. This is a TurboTax issue. They hold your money in a temporary account. It's called a Refund Transfer. The IRS already sent your money. TurboTax takes their fees then forwards the rest to you. Usually takes 5-7 business days after IRS approval. If it's been longer, call them and demand answers. They can see exactly where your money is.

I've been using TurboTax for 15 years now, and I learned the hard way about having fees taken from the refund. Last year I filed on February 20th and chose fees from refund. My neighbors filed the same day but paid upfront. They got their refund on March 2nd, while mine took until March 10th! This year I bit the bullet and paid the $89 upfront with my credit card. Got my refund in 11 days flat. The community wisdom here is pretty clear - if you need your refund ASAP, never choose the fees-from-refund option.

My sister filed on 2/26, one day after you, with TurboTax and fees taken from refund. She just got her deposit yesterday. So... you might want to check your bank account or the TurboTax refund tracker soon. The temporary bank accounts they use seem to process in batches, not strictly in the order received from the IRS.