Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Dear Mrs. [redacted],   This letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 5, 2018.   In the complaint received, you state your refund was significantly lower due to miscellaneous and unexplained fees...

charged. Additionally, you were overcharged for the initial tax preparation services used online. To resolve your issue, you would like a refund in the amount of $118 for the additional fees charged.   To give you some background information and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain TPG’s relationship with [redacted] Bank (Bank). TPG is a third-party processor for the Bank. Through this relationship, [redacted] can offer tax products which are sold through TPG through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation services. The product you have used through TPG, called a “Refund Transfer”, allowed you to pay for your tax preparation fees and RT processing fee directly out of your tax refund. This service is optional. This saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider, [redacted] Tax.   To address your complaint, we have listed the timeline of events below: According to our records, March 14, 2018, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted]Tax. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. On March 27, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG in the amount of $391.00. On that same date, TPG deducted the software tax preparation fee of $94.98, the RT processing fee of $39.99 and deposited the remaining balance of $256.03 to the bank account you designated on your tax return. On February 28, 2018, your financial institution rejected the funds and declared the account an, R03 / No Account / Unable to Locate Account, and the funds were returned to TPG. Please reference the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record for ACH Bank contact, RTN/DAN, and trace numbers regarding the rejected deposit. When a taxpayer enters a bank account that does not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. Once the bank returns the rejected refund to TPG, the taxpayer is charged a $20 reprocessing fee and TPG makes another attempt to   disburse funds to the customer by mailing a Cashier’s Check to the customer’s address of record. We feel that this is a better option for our customers rather than rejecting the funds back to the IRS. You may also reference the RT Application and Agreement for these terms.  On February 29, 2018, TPG made a second attempt to disburse funds via a Cashier’s Check mailed to the address on record.   TPG has provided the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable fees and depositing the funds into the account which you directed on the online agreement. The SAMPLE screen shots and RT paperwork enclosed with this letter will establish that our fees and references to the Bank are adequately displayed throughout the [redacted] Tax website as required by banking regulations. Additionally, we have mailed a copy of your Refund Transfer Application and Agreement, provided by [redacted] Tax, for review. Please reference sections 1, 3, 4 and 6 for the disclosure of the RT Processing fee. You electronically agreed to these governing terms and conditions through the software application, therefore we must deny the reimbursement of the RT in the amount of $39.99. Furthermore, TPG has no authority to reimburse fees charged by the software provider. You will need to contact [redacted] Tax directly for fees associated with your tax preparation.   However, as a one-time courtesy TPG will remit and refund the reprocessing fee. TPG will process a Cashier’s check in the amount of $20.00 to the address on record. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST).   Respectfully,   [redacted] Program Operations Analyst

Dear Ms. [redacted],   This letter is in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 24, 2018.   In your complaint, you state that you were qualified for a federal free e-file edition with [redacted] online....

However, you were charged a fee for importing your information from last year’s filing and to have your preparation fees taken from your return as opposed to paying upfront. You were unaware until well into the filing process that you would be charged the $39.99 refund processing fee. You believe this is not a loan, but are being charged well above the maximum interest rate imposed by the state of New Hampshire.   To give you some background information and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain TPG’s relationship with [redacted]). TPG is a third-party processor for the [redacted]. Through this relationship, [redacted] is able to offer tax products which are sold through TPG through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation services such as [redacted]. The product you have used through TPG, called a “Refund Transfer” (RT), allowed you to pay for your tax preparation fees including additional services directly out of your tax refund. This service is optional. This saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider.   According to our records, on February 24, 2018, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted]. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. The SAMPLE screen shots and RT paperwork enclosed with the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record will establish that our fees and references to the [redacted] are adequately displayed throughout the [redacted] website as required by [redacted]ing regulations. Additionally, we have included a copy of your Refund Transfer Application and Agreement, provided by [redacted], in the detailed client letter for review. Please reference the highlighted areas in sections 1, 3, 4 and 6 for the disclosure of this fee. You electronically agreed to these governing terms and conditions through the software application.   TPG is providing the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable fees and depositing the funds into the account which you directed on the online agreement. However, as a one-time courtesy we will remit and refund the RT Processing fee. TPG will process a direct deposit in the amount of $39.99 to the [redacted] account on record once your refund is approved by the IRS and payment is made to TPG.       If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST).   Respectfully,  
[redacted] Program Operations Analyst

Dear [redacted],   This letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Product Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 5, 2017. First and foremost, TPG would like to apologize for your negative experience with TPG’s customer service department. We...

take this complaint very seriously and are committed to providing each customer a positive experience with our company. We appreciate you as a customer and value your business. To help you understand our process, we have listed out the events associated with your account as follows:    According to our records, on January 27, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from your online software provider. On February 22, 2017, TPG received payment related to your 2016 federal tax refund. TPG then deducted the fees related to your tax software fees and RT fee. On that same date, the funds were deposited to the account designated on record, as requested when you filed your tax return. Please refer to the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record for the account details. On March 1, 2017, the financial institution rejected the funds and declared the account an R23/“Credit Entry Refused by Receiver”. Please refer to the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record for the details regarding your Banks ACH Department and tracking number, for further details regarding the rejection of funds. The funds were returned to TPG on March 1, 2017. If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. Often times this occurs because the taxpayer has entered incorrect bank account information or the account is closed. In these cases the receiving bank “rejects” the transaction, and returns the funds to the sender, in this case TPG. Once TPG receives the rejected refund the company has the option of making another attempt to disburse funds to the customer. TPG delivered the refund to you through an alternative delivery method, which is a paper check mailed to the address on record.  On March 2, 2017, TPG issued a check and mailed it to the address on record. On March 17, 2017, the check was returned to TPG as undeliverable. For your protection and due to two failed attempts in disbursing your refund we could not proceed any further in our efforts. TPG is obligated to return the funds back to the IRS, specifically the RISC/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, California.   On April 10, 2017, TPG began the process of returning your funds to the IRS. This process can take up to 15 business days. Please be advised that once we have returned funds to the IRS it can be several weeks before they acknowledge receipt and post to your account.   Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up processes to protect our clients from identity theft. We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced.   If you have any additional concerns, you may contact TPG at [redacted], Monday through Friday between 7:00 am to 4:00 pm (PST).  Sincerely,     [redacted] Compliance Analyst

[redacted]
2310 Colston Drive, Apt 301
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Re: Case [redacted]
November 9, 2015
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com of San Diego on
October 31, 2015...

regarding service issues.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On April 2, 2015 the
IRS funded your federal return; fees were deduced to pay your Turbo Tax user
fees and an additional bank deposit product fee instructed on The Citizens
Banking Company Refund Processing Agreement. Please review the two highlighted
sections on the attached document regarding your fees inquiry.
Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity
theft and fraud. Our regulators require that we follow the Customer
Identification Program (CIP) and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. Your
funds were held for further review to ensure that the funds were being released
to the lawful owner. Unfortunately, you were unable to verify that you were the
lawful owner of these funds within the given allotted time which is why your
funds were sent back to the IRS. After careful consideration, TPG will remit your
$25 processing fee. In order to insure TPG is sending the money to the correct
account holder, please contact us at 877-[redacted] to verify you are the lawful
owner.
On behalf of TPG, we would also like to formally apologize
to you for any miscommunication or trouble caused by our customer service.
We hope this satisfies your inquiry. If you have any
questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 877-[redacted], Monday
through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Compliance
Analyst

March 13, 2018  [redacted]
  Dear Mrs. [redacted], This letter is in response to the rebuttal filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 12, 2018. Please refer to the detailed response letter mailed to the address on record for additional details on the breakdown of fees and total refund received. Additionally, the RT paperwork you received when filing through [redacted] Tax will fully disclose TPG fees along with the amount of [redacted] Tax fees.   TPG is very sorry for any inconvenience you have experienced. If you have any questions or concerns, please, do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 858-550-5072, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm PST.  Respectfully, [redacted]Program Operations Analyst

April 11, 2016
[redacted].
[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed again** Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 3,
2016.
In your complaint, you stated that after filing...

your 2015
tax return, there was an issue with your account number. You spoke with TPG’s
representatives regarding the status of your refund after it was rejected. You
were given different time frames for when to expect your tax refund but still
was unable to receive it.
In the scenario described in your complaint, you have chosen
a do-it-yourself (DIY) tax preparation software package such as Intuit’s
popular TurboTax product. If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not
accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank.
Often time this occurs because the taxpayer has entered incorrect bank account
information or the account is closed. In these cases, the receiving bank
“rejects” the transaction, and returns the funds to the sender, in this case,
TPG.
TPG has nothing to do with incorrect account information
entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. Once
TPG receives the rejected refund, the company has the option of making a second
attempt to disburse funds to the customer or simply return the funds to the
IRS.
TPG mailed your tax refund as a Cashier’s Check after the
transaction was rejected by your financial institution. You were asked to wait
up to 11 business days for the check to reach you per banking requirements. Unfortunately,
you did not receive the check. After the 11 days, you were asked to fill out an
Indemnity Bond to authorize TPG to stop payment on the original check and to allow
TPG to reissue a new Cashier’s Check.
TPG received the Indemnity Bond and reissued a new Cashier’s
Check. As a courtesy, TPG also remitted the $20 reprocessing fee. On April 7, both
checks were mailed to your address on record. Please allow up to 11 days for
your checks to reach you.
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations. If you have any other questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

February 17, 2016[redacted]Dear Mr. [redacted],This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 12, 2016.You stated that you have not received your refund yet after it was...

rejected by your bank. Once you learned it was rejected, you contacted TPG’s customer service again to inquire about your refund.Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate you telling us of your experience. We are experiencing extremely large call volumes which correlates to an extremely large, and unexpected, funding from IRS. This unexpected spike in business has caused extreme demand on our resources. We understand your frustration with the delay in processing your refund.  Initially, your bank rejected the transaction and returned the funds back to TPG.  Additionally, controls are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraud and therefore you had to go through a process to verify your identity. We apologize if our attempts at obtaining your personal information were perceived as rude, but please understand it is our obligation to investigate these matters thoroughly to ensure the money is forwarded to the lawful owner. All the customer agents involved have been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in a respectful manner.   Once your personal information was verified with TPG, your refund was converted into a Cashier’s Check and mailed to you on February 12, 2016 to the address on record. Please allow up to 7 days for the check to be received.If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.Sincerely,[redacted]Compliance Analyst

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
The supervisor I spoke to on the phone stated the would process it within two weeks being that I contacted the Revdex.com. So I’m giving you all two weeks to receive a tracking number if I haven’t received one by then I will take further actions.
Regards,
[redacted]

May 5, 2016 [redacted]   Dear Mr. [redacted] We are writing in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbra Tax Products Group (TGP) on April 25, 2016. To give you some background and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would...

like to explain TPG’s role with Civista Bank (Bank). TPG is a third party process for the Bank. Through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation services. The product you have used through TPG, called the “Refund Transfer”, allowed you to pay for your tax software or your tax preparation fees directly out of your refund. This saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to your tax preparer or Software Company. Your complaint stated that on January 21, 2016, you filed your taxes through Turbo Tax. You received a notification from the IRS indicating that your taxes needed further information, which delayed your refund 12-16 weeks.  You constantly checked the IRS website for any new updates regarding your refund. On April 20, 2016, the IRS informed you that your refund would be deposited to your bank. Unfortunately, you were unaware of an email TPG sent you in February requesting you to submit your identification through TPG’s online portal. You attempted to call TPG to learn more information regarding your refund, but was unable to get through to someone. Once you did, you spoke with a representative named Rochelle, who would not provide you with the information you needed regarding your account. To address your complaint while still protecting your identity, we have written you a detailed letter with specific information related to your account. Our letter outlines the timeline of events and referenced specific dollar amounts. To respond to your Revdex.com complaint, we will summarize the events, but please reference the letter we sent you for additional details.\ In summary, TPG received your refund from the IRS on April 19, 2016.  Due to certain fraud filters your transaction was placed on hold in a non-interest bearing account for additional verification.  This account hold was placed on April 19, 2016 (the same day payment was received from the IRS).  You were sent an email to the address on file with instructions for how to verify your account.  TPG requested that you submit a valid form of identification in order to validate your account. This validation process allows TPG to release the hold on your account and deposit your refund into your account. On April 26, 2016, TPG was able to validate your identification and release the account hold. Your refund was deposited into your account on April 26, 2016. Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up processes to protect our clients from identity theft. We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced. Sincerely, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

Issue has been resolved

February 26, 2016
[redacted]
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to your
complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group through the RevDex.com on February 19, 2016.
In your complaint you stated that
after...

providing your identification for TPG to verify your account, you were
given an array of different time frames for when your verification will be
processed.
If a taxpayer enters a bank
account that will not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by
the receiving bank. Oftentimes this occurs because the taxpayer has entered
incorrect bank account information or the account is closed. In these cases,
the receiving bank rejects the transaction, and returns the funds to the
sender, in this case, TPG. TPG has nothing to do with the incorrect account
information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject
the funds. Once TPG receives the rejected refund, the company has the option of
making another attempt to disburse the funds to the customer or simply
returning the funds to the IRS.
Controls are in place to protect
our customers from identity theft and fraud. TPG has requested you to provide
your state license and social security number in order to verify that you are
the correct account holder. Your information was then verified and the hold on
your account released. On February 20, TPG processed your tax refund as a check
and mailed it to you on the same date. Please allow up to 7 days for the check
to reach your listed address.
If you have any other questions
or concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

March 15, 2018   [redacted]   Dear Ms. [redacted],   This letter is in response to the rebuttal filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 13, 2018.   You have voiced concerns over TPG holding your funds, and while we understand your frustration with the process, we hope you can appreciate that we must follow policy. As explained previously, on February 21, 2018, the IRS approved your return and released funds related to your refund to TPG. On that same date, TPG deducted your software fee in the amount of $699, RT Processing fee of $39.99 and deposited the remaining balance of $5,637.26 to the account, [redacted]® Card, designated on the return. The product you have used through TPG, called a “Refund Transfer”, allowed you to pay for your tax preparation fees directly out of your tax refund. This service is optional. This saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider. You electronically agreed to these governing terms and conditions through your software provider, [redacted] Tax.  ®On February 22, 2018, for reasons unknown to TPG, the load of your refund to the [redacted] Card was rejected by the card processor. TPG has no visibility on the reasoning and therefore it is advised that you contact the card issuing company directly for further details. On that same date, as a courtesy, TPG made a second attempt to disburse funds via a Check mailed to the address on record. On February 27, 2018, the check was returned to TPG as undeliverable. After two failed attempts, we could not proceed any further in our efforts in disbursing your refund. Therefore, TPG began the process to return funds associated with your tax return filing back to the Internal Revenue Service, specifically the RICS/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, CA.   On March 8, 2018, a $25 account research and processing fee was deducted, and the remaining balance is in the process of being sent to the IRS. While the process of returning funds to the IRS ultimately provides benefit to the customer, there is a substantial cost to TPG for handling these items. TPG charges a commercially reasonable processing fee of $25 to cover the expenses associated with processing these items.     On March 9, 2018, you called TPG inquiring about the status of your refund. TPG notified you about the undeliverable check and confirmed your funds were being returned to IRS. It was further explained, TPG could not make any changes to your account at that time and the funds were scheduled to be returned during the next cycle. Please contact the IRS directly at 800-829-0922 for further details. Please note that this process can take 10-12 weeks before the IRS acknowledges receipt and posts to your account.   Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up processes to protect our clients and help limit identity theft. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.     Respectfully,    [redacted] TPG Program Operations

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[I found the message associated with complaint ID [redacted] in my spam file yesterday. Am traveling today. Will contact [redacted] tomorrow or Wednesday and see if we can resolve my complaint. Please keep complaint open at least until Thursday (4/6/2017).]
Regards,
[redacted]

February 23, 2017 [redacted] Dear Ms. [redacted], We are writing in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 17, 2017. Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this...

matter. TPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront fees. When your taxes were prepared through [redacted] Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) product. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer. According to our records, on January 13, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted] Tax. This means that you used tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. TPG received the data file and no monies were transferred. On February 22, 2017, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. On February 22, 2017, TPG deducted the [redacted] Tax user fees and RT fee and made payment to the bank account indicated on your tax return. Per the IRS, taxpayers can generally expect refunds to be issued in less than 21 days after the electronic return was accepted. Of course, certain factors can cause delays to taxpayer refunds which are out of the control of TPG. For example, if your return contains Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), the IRS will not issue your tax refund before February 15th, which means you can expect your deposit the week of February 27th. To keep you informed about the status of your refund payment, you may use the following tools, which are updated in real time:                 • Please utilize the “Where’s My Refund” tool a the IRS to check on the status of your refund -                                 https://www.irs.gov/refunds                 • Please log into your TPG account on our website to get up-to-date information about your Refund Transfer                              filing. Additional information is available through our help center and automated phone center. We encourage you to read about possible payment delays in more detail by viewing the IRS website at https://www.[redacted].[redacted]. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Respectfully, Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

March 3, 2017 [redacted] Dear Ms. [redacted], We are writing in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 27, 2017. Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in...

this matter. TPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront fees. When your taxes were prepared through [redacted] Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) product. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer. In the complaint received, it was stated that there were problems surrounding the receipt of your tax refund as well as issues regarding customer service at TPG. According to our records, on February 13, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted] Tax. This means that you utilized tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. TPG received the data file and no monies were transferred. Due to certain fraud filters, your account was placed on hold in a non­interest bearing account for additional verification. On February 22, 2017 the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT. To remove an account hold, we ask customers to simply provide us a copy of their unexpired government issued identification, such as a driver’s license or passport. This allows us to verify your identity and remove the hold from your account. On March 2, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification and released the account hold. Your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at TPG to protect your account from fraud.  Please understand that as a financial services business we are required to perform reasonable monitoring procedures to ensure fraud, such as ID theft, has not occurred through our business processes. Certain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspicious. We are very sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at 877­908­7228, Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST), or you may utilize our live customer support chat by logging onto https://help.sbtpg.com/hc/en-us/requests/new, Monday through Friday between 6:00am to 6:00pm (PST).Respectfully,Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted],...

and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted],   This letter is in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 23, 2018. In the complaint received, it is stated that although you expected a return of $8424.00, TPG only deposited $480.07. On...

February 22, 2018, you received a notification from TurboTax that the refund would be deposited to your [redacted] on that date. You checked your [redacted] account and discovered that the deposit amount was less than the expected amount. After contacting TPG and hearing that there were no offsets, you are not sure where the remaining balance is, and therefore you would like TPG to release your funds. To give you some background information and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain TPG’s relationship with [redacted] ([redacted]). TPG is a third-party processor for the [redacted]. Through this relationship, [redacted] can offer tax products which are sold through TPG through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation services. The product you have used through TPG, called a “Refund Transfer”, allowed you to pay for your tax preparation fees and RT processing fee directly out of your tax refund. According to our records, TPG received your electronic filing record from TurboTax on January 23, 2018. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and you elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. In the meantime, for purposes unknown to TPG, the Financial Management Service (FMS) intercepted your refund before it was received at TPG. FMS offsets taxpayers’ refunds through the Treasury Offset Program to pay off past-due federal agency non-tax debts such as child support, student loans, and state income tax obligations. On February 21, 2018, your refund was approved by the FMS and payment was made to TPG. On that same date, TPG deducted the software fee and the RT processing fee and deposited the remaining balance to the [redacted] account indicated on your tax return. Please reference the detailed letter mailed to the address on record for funding and fee amounts. Neither TPG nor the IRS is provided with the specific information of your debt. It is advised that you contact the Treasury Offset Program at (800) 304-3107 for further details regarding the government debt. The FMS will send a notice in the mail informing you of any government offset that was made. You may also utilize the “Where’s My Refund” tool at the IRS to check on the status of your refund including any notices of refund reductions (https://www.irs.gov/refunds). If you have any questions or concerns, please, do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 858-550-5072, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm PST.   Respectfully, [redacted] Program Operations Analyst

Dear [redacted], This letter is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 16, 2017. In the complaint, you stated on January 31, 2017, you contacted TPG to ask about a deposit that was sent to your...

bank on the 31st according to the website. On February 1, 2017, you still did not receive your deposit, which prompted you to call [redacted] Tax and were informed that TPG was experiencing a deposit glitch. Although you were told it would take 2 business days for the deposit, it actually took 3. Because of this delay your bank charged you multiple overdraft fees that will not be credited back. Furthermore, TPG is ignoring your emails and requests. It is unfortunate that you were charged multiple overdraft fees by your financial institution. Funds are posted to the taxpayer(s) account at the discretion of the receiving bank. Taxpayer(s) should contact their banks to learn the exact time that direct deposits are posted to their accounts. We cannot comment on the specific reasons, but it is customary that direct deposits post two banking days after a direct deposit is transmitted. Social media channels, such as the one you visited, generally reflect the subjective opinions of individuals and are not considered to be factual sources of information. However, upon receipt of your complaint, TPG investigated and has found no such glitch in its systems. We realize this letter is not the answer you were hoping for, but TPG provided the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable fees and depositing the funds into the account which you directed on the online agreement; therefore, we must deny the request for reimbursement of your overdraft fees. For up-to-date information about your TPG account, please log onto our website www.taxpayer.sbtpg.com or call our 24-hour automated, toll-free number ([redacted]). Respectfully, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

March 10, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February
29, 2016.
In your complaint, you...

stated that you called TPG after
learning there was an issue with your account which caused your funds to reject
back to TPG. When you were able to speak to a representative, you were told
that there were two options you could do, either have your refund sent back to
the IRS or have your identification verified through TPG and receive a check
within 10 days. After sending in your identification, you waited two weeks and
haven’t received your refund.
We experienced extremely large call volumes which correlated
to extremely large funding from the IRS. This unexpected spike in business
caused extreme demands on our resources such as our call center. We apologize
for the inconvenience this has caused you and the difficulty in reaching a customer
service agent.
Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity
theft and fraud. On February 26, TPG was able to verify your identity and
released the hold on the account. The refund was reissued as a Cashier’s Check
and mailed it to your address on record. TPG confirmed that the check was
negotiated on March 5, 2016.
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations. If you have any other questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

February 25, 2016
[redacted]
 
Dear [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group through the Revdex.com on February 16,
2016.
Your complaint stated that...

you were unable to receive your
refund because there was an error with your account. Since you have moved to a
new address, this has caused an additional delay in the release of your refund.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted].  On February 9, 2016 the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay
your [redacted] user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT. The
balance was deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Refund
Processing Agreement.  Your financial
institution rejected the funds and declared the account an R04/ “Invalid
Account Number”. You may contact your financial institution and provide them
with trace number: [redacted] for
further details regarding the rejection of funds. The funds were returned to
TPG on February 10, 2016.
We were unable to successfully verify the personal
information you provided as part of your tax filing and therefore cannot process
your refund.  For your protection the refund is being returned to the
IRS.  You may contact them directly at [redacted] to determine the
status of your refund. 
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst