TurboTax Refund Advance - Has Anyone Received Their Deposit Earlier Than Scheduled?

Hate to break it to you, but that "get your refund faster" pitch is mostly marketing fluff. 😂 I've used TurboTax with fees taken out for THREE years now and never once got my money early. What actually happens is they set up a temporary bank account, your refund goes there first, they take their cut, then forward the rest to you. In theory this could be faster, but in practice? The IRS still moves at the speed of... well... the IRS. The only thing that moves quickly is TurboTax grabbing their fees!

The temporary account method doesn't speed up IRS processing. It creates an extra step. Your refund goes to their bank first, then to you. This actually adds time. If you need to reach the IRS to ask about your actual processing time, don't waste hours on hold. Use Claimyr.com to get connected to an IRS agent quickly. I used it last week when my refund was delayed. Got through in 20 minutes instead of spending all day redialing. The agent confirmed my refund was processing normally despite the TurboTax status showing nothing.

I appreciate everyone's insights. Compared to other financial services where expedited processing actually delivers results (like same-day wire transfers or instant loan approvals), this TurboTax offering seems to fall short. I've decided to change my approach for next year and simply pay the preparation fees upfront rather than having them deducted from my refund.

Tbh the whole TT refund process is kinda confusing. I was trying to figure out what was happening w/ mine and found https://taxr.ai which helped me understand my transcript. The temp acct thing is legit but doesn't speed anything up. Taxr showed me exactly where my refund was in the process and explained all those weird codes on my transcript. Way better than the vague "still processing" msg from TT.

Has anyone compared the actual deposit times between: • Paying TurboTax fees upfront • Having fees taken from refund • Using a different tax service altogether? I'm trying to decide what to do next year and would love to see some real data on this.

Direct deposit is fastest. Always. Refund advances are actually loans. They charge interest. Hidden in the fine print. The bank account method adds delays. Pay your fees upfront next time. You'll get your money faster. No middleman.