Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, LLC complaints

May 3, 2024 Dear Ms. Sites, This letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Business Consumer Alliance on April 27, 2024. TPG offers taxpayers an optional tax-refund transfer service through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals, and online tax preparation providers. The refund transfer service (the "RT Service") is offered and administered by Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, LLC, with Green Dot Bank providing banking services for the RT Service. The RT Service allows taxpayers to pay their tax preparation fees from their federal or state tax refund rather than paying their tax preparation fees at the time of filing. With the RT Service, taxpayers authorize a temporary non-interest-bearing deposit account to be opened in the taxpayer's name at Green Dot Bank to receive a direct deposit of the taxpayer's federal and/or state tax refund from the IRS or state tax authority. The Green Dot Bank account is opened when Green Dot Bank receives the taxpayer's federal or state tax refund. When Green Dot Bank receives the federal or state tax refund (whichever arrives first), TPG makes deductions from the tax refund to pay the tax preparation fees and associated upfront fees. Green Dot Bank disburses the refund balance to the taxpayer pursuant to the taxpayer's instruction. You electronically agreed to these terms and conditions through your RT Service Agreement. According to our records, on April 7, 2024, TPG received your electronic submittal through the online do-it-yourself software provider, TurboTax.com. This means that the option to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay the software fees was selected instead of paying via credit card at the time of filing. When TPG received your refund from the IRS in the amount of $94.74, it was deposited into a temporary, non-interest-bearing account. You may reference the 'Disbursement Methods' section 7 of your Refund Transfer Service Agreement to confirm your submitted account information. TPG can confirm that we deposited your refund of $94.74 to the account you designated at the time of filing. You have voiced concerns about your 2023 tax refund being less than originally expected. An expected refund amount is estimated when you file your tax return. TPG has no authority or visibility over the IRS process in approving specific refund amounts. TPG is a third-party payment processor obligated under the Refund Transfer Service Agreement to deduct fees associated with the filing and deposit the remaining balance to the account the customer designates. For purposes unknown to TPG, the Department of Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) intercepted your refund before TPG received them. The BFS offsets taxpayers' refunds through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to pay off past-due federal agency non-tax debts such as student loans, child support, and state income tax obligations. Unfortunately, TPG does not receive specific information on your debt. However, BFS sends a mail notice informing you of any government offset made. You may contact TOP at 800-304-3107 (866-297-0517 for TTY/TDD help), Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm CST, for further details regarding the debt collected. You may also utilize the "Where's My Refund" tool at the IRS to be advised of notices related to refund reductions (https://www.irs.gov/refunds). For any disputes regarding the approved refund amount, we recommend that you contact the IRS directly. We hope that this information is helpful. For any additional questions or concerns, contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Respectfully, TPG Complaint Department

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April 24, 2024 Dear Demetriq Evans, This letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Business Consumer Alliance on April 19, 2024. TPG offers taxpayers an optional tax-refund transfer service through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals, and online tax preparation providers. The refund transfer service (the "RT Service") is offered and administered by Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, LLC, with Civista Bank providing banking services for the RT Service. The RT Service allows taxpayers to pay their tax preparation fees from their federal or state tax refund rather than paying their tax preparation fees at the time of filing. With the RT Service, taxpayers authorize a temporary non-interest-bearing deposit account to be opened in the taxpayer's name at Civista Bank to receive a direct deposit of the taxpayer's federal and/or state tax refund from the IRS or state tax authority. The Civista Bank account is opened when Civista Bank receives the taxpayer's federal or state tax refund. When Civista Bank receives the federal or state tax refund (whichever arrives first), TPG makes deductions from the tax refund to pay the tax preparation fees and associated upfront fees. Civista Bank disburses the refund balance to the taxpayer pursuant to the taxpayer's instruction. You electronically agreed to these terms and conditions through your RT Service Agreement. According to our records, on February 5, 2023, TPG received your electronic submittal through TaxHawk.com. This means that the option to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay the software fees was selected instead of paying via credit card at the time of filing. When TPG received your refund from the IRS, it was deposited into a temporary, non-interest-bearing account; we deducted the fees for the tax preparation fees and the Refund Transfer service and on February 23, 2023, deposited the remaining balance to the Sutton Bank account you designated at the time of filing [Routing Number: 041215663; Account Number: *********3953]. You may reference the 'Disbursement Methods' section of your Refund Transfer Service Agreement to confirm your submitted account information. TPG confirmed that we provided the services we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable fees and depositing the funds into the account you directed on the online agreement. As of this writing, Sutton Bank has not returned funds to TPG. For inquiries related to your direct deposit, TPG recommends you provide Sutton Bank's ACH department with this ACH Trace Number to track your funds (044111194278661). For questions about prior year tax filings, please contact us at TPG-CSsupport@greendotcorp.com and your request will be routed to the appropriate department. Respectfully, TPG Complaint Department

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May 1, 2024 Dear Mr. Evans, This letter is in response to the rebuttal filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Business Consumer Alliance on April 25, 2024. Unfortunately, TPG cannot re-call the direct deposit that was sent to Sutton Bank on February 22, 2023. As stated before, TPG provided the services we were contracted to provide by depositing the funds in the account you directed when signing your online agreement. TPG strongly recommends that you contact Sutton Bank with the ACH Trace number we provided in the original response. We understand that such occurrences can be unfortunate, but we operate within standards to protect taxpayers while remaining compliant with the service agreement that you have agreed to. For questions about prior year tax filings, please contact us at TPG-CSsupport@greendotcorp.com and your request will be routed to the appropriate department. Respectfully, TPG Complaint Department

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