Frequently Asked Questions About the TurboTax Refund Card

Top Questions

• What number can I call to get further assistance on the TurboTax Refund Card?
• When will I receive my TurboTax Refund Card?
• Why is my refund not on my TurboTax Refund Card?
• Why was I rejected for the TurboTax Refund Card?
• What are the fees and terms and conditions associated with the TurboTax Refund Card?
• Can I put my refund on my existing TurboTax Refund Card or other prepaid debit card?
• Why am I seeing a $29.95 charge for the card when I thought it was free?

About the Card

• What is the TurboTax Refund Card?
• How is the TurboTax Refund Card different than a Gift Card?
• How is the TurboTax Refund Card different than a Credit Card?
• How does my TurboTax Refund Card work?
• If I have bad credit, can I still get a TurboTax Refund Card?
• My state issued my refund on a prepaid debit card, where do I get more information?

Signing-up for and receiving your Card

• How do I get a TurboTax Refund Card?
• I applied for a TurboTax Refund Card, but I haven't received it yet. What's going on?
• Can I split up my refund, for example, put some on a TurboTax Refund Card and some in my bank account?
• Is there a limit to the refund amount that can be deposited onto the TurboTax Refund Card?
• What happens if I order the card, but my tax return is rejected or my efile doesn't go through?
• The amount that was deposited on my new card is not the same as the refund amount that TurboTax provided. Why?
• Can I get more than one TurboTax Refund Card?
• Can I get a second card for the same account to share with a family member or friend?
• How does Intuit prevent fraud on TurboTax Refund Cards?
• What if I am a legitimate TurboTax Refund Card customer and my card has been put on hold?

The TurboTax Refund Card is a convenient way to get your tax refund. The TurboTax Refund Card is a reloadable prepaid Visa debit card that you can use everywhere Visa debit is accepted.

You can have your tax refund direct deposited right to the card instead of to a bank account, or instead of waiting for a paper check. You’ll get your refund fast – in as few as 7 days when you e-file.

Learn more about the TurboTax Refund Card.

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Unlike gift cards, the TurboTax Refund Card is personalized with your name, allows you to make ATM withdrawals in addition to making purchases, and is reloadable.

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The TurboTax Refund Card is prepaid, which means you need to add money to your card in order to use it. It does not offer a line of credit like credit cards.

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Once you choose to put some or all of your tax refund on the card¹, we walk you through signing up in the program and preparing to direct deposit your refund to the card. You can continue to e-file or print and mail your return right away. When TurboTax needs routing and account numbers for the direct deposit, we’ll use numbers associated exclusively with your new TurboTax Refund Card. These numbers will be generated automatically when you elect to direct deposit on the card.

You should typically receive your new card in the mail within 7-10 days from the day you sign up. When your refund is loaded on to your TurboTax Refund Card, you will be notified by email or text message (if you chose that option when you signed up) that your funds are available. You can then activate your card online or over the phone by following the instructions listed on the sticker on your card.

To get assistance with using your card, or for help with any problems, please review the following options:

• For cards issued prior to October 17, 2011 and start with the numbers 485245, please call Customer Service at 1-866-963-1620
• For cards issued after October 17, 2011 and start with the numbers 4034471, please call Customer Service at 1-866-543-9160

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Issuance Charge

• FREE

Monthly Charge 

• First month FREE 
• Your Monthly Charge will be waived when you have an available balance of at least $50 on the last day of your billing cycle
• Otherwise, $5.95 per month

Signature or PIN Debit Transactions

• FREE

Cash Withdrawals

• One FREE ATM withdrawal at an Allpoint ATM
• FREE cash withdrawals when you ask for "cash back" during checkout (where available)
• $2.50 for all other ATM withdrawals and teller cash withdrawals, plus any fee the ATM owner may charge (no charge from ATM owner Allpoint ATMs) 
• Balance inquiries cost $0.50.  You can always check your balance for free online, by phone, or by text*.

Other Charges

• Lost/stolen card replacement: $4.95
• Second card: $4.95
• Reloading your card with Direct Deposit is FREE. Reloading your card at a retailer will cost up to $4.95
• If you use your card outside of the 50 United States, a charge equal to 3% of the transaction amount will apply

See Cardholder Agreement for details.

* Message and data rates may apply

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Yes. When you sign up for a TurboTax Refund Card, no credit check is required.

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You can sign up for the card right in TurboTax. After you’ve finished preparing your taxes and you’re getting ready to file, you’ll see a screen about the TurboTax Refund Card, and then you’ll be able to choose it as an option for getting your refund.

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Yes. Select Direct Deposit when you are given your refund choices and then enter the bank name, routing number, and account number for your card.

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You should typically receive your TurboTax Refund Card within 7-10 days from the day you sign up for the card. If you do not receive the card after 10 days, please review the following contact options:

• For cards issued prior to October 17, 2011 (TurboTax 2009 or 2010), please call Customer Service at 1-866-963-1620
• For cards issued after October 17, 2011 (TurboTax 2011), please call Customer Service at 1-866-543-9160

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Please allow 7-10 days for your card to arrive after applying for the card. If you do not receive the card after 10 days, please review the following support information and select the option to report a card lost, stolen or never received. Please have your Social Security Number and confirmation number (from the confirmation email you received right after you ordered the card) available.

• For cards issued prior to October 17, 2011 (TurboTax 2009 or 2010), please call Customer Service at 1-866-963-1620
• For cards issued after October 17, 2011 (TurboTax 2011), please call Customer Service at 1-866-543-9160

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When you complete your federal tax return, TurboTax gives you an estimated date that you will receive your refund based on the IRS's Refund Cycle Chart. If you e-filed, your federal refund will typically be deposited directly on your card within 7-14 days from the day your return is accepted by the IRS (6-8 weeks if you mailed your return). Once your refund is loaded on to your TurboTax Refund Card, you will be notified by email or SMS text message (if you requested to be contacted when you signed up for the card) that the funds are available.

If you would like to check the status of your refund, please visit the IRS web site at www.irs.gov and select "Where's My Refund."

The processing times for state refunds vary from state to state. As a general rule, you can expect your state tax refund within 30 days from the day your return is successfully transmitted.

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Yes. When you're signing up for the TurboTax Refund Card, check the box that allows you to split your refund. You can choose up to four different accounts in addition to your primary account. Your refund card will be considered your primary account.

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No, there is no limit.

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When you sign up for the TurboTax Refund Card, your request will be processed and your card will be sent to you that same day, regardless of whether you file your return. However, your funds will not be authorized for direct deposit to the card until your return is accepted. If you e-file successfully but your return is rejected, you'll need to resolve the e-filing errors and transmit again. And if you e-file but the transmission doesn't go through, you'll need to retransmit your return to ensure it is filed.

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We must abide by regulatory requirements to ensure that we can verify our customers' identities. We use an external source to verify the validity of a customer's personal information.

A customer fails verification when the customer's personal information either is incorrect, has been changed and/or does not match the information retrieved from this external source.

Failed verification may be caused by, but is not limited to:

• Address change
• Recent name change, i.e. marriage or divorce
• Personal information is spelled incorrectly
• No information was found by external source

If you fail verification, you will be notified that you will not receive a personalized reloadable card. Unfortunately, if you do not pass verification, we cannot activate a card for you.

At this point, you can choose another way to receive your tax refund.

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The refund amount deposited to your card may not be what you expected if the IRS has determined you owe back taxes or child support payments. The IRS is authorized to take these from your refund before it’s sent to you.

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No, not at the time you sign up for the card. You can choose however to split your refund between a new TurboTax Refund Card and another prepaid card you may already have.

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Yes. Once your TurboTax Refund Card arrives, you have the option of requesting a second card to give to a friend or family member. Both your card and the second card will have the same account number; so both cards will have access to the available funds loaded to the account. A second card costs $4.95 and there is no additional monthly charge for that card.

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To get assistance with using your card, or for help with any problems, please review the following options:

• For cards issued prior to October 17, 2011 and start with the numbers 485245 (issued in TurboTax 2009 or 2010), please call Customer Service at 1-866-963-1620
• For cards issued after October 17, 2011 and start with the numbers 4034471 (issued in TurboTax 2011), please call Customer Service at 1-866-543-9160

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Certain states are dispersing refunds on debit cards issued directly from the state.  If you received a state-specific card and have questions about this card or your state refund, please contact them directly.

• New York:  518-457-5149
• Georgia:  877-423-6711
• Louisiana:  225-219-0102
• Oklahoma:  800-522-8165
• Connecticut:  860-297-5962
• South Carolina:  803-898-5709

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The charge you are referencing is for our Refund Processing fee which deducts your TurboTax fees from your refund for a $29.95 charge.  This is not related to the TurboTax Refund Card.  There is no charge to get the card.

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Intuit has fraud detection and prevention controls to help ensure that only legitimate cardholders receive the refunds they are entitled to on a TurboTax Refund Card.
 
In order to protect  legitimate cardholders and ensure we are preventing fraud, if a TurboTax refund card shows the type of suspicious activity typically associated with fraud, we place a hold on that card so that no transactions can be made (e.g., payments, adding funds to cards, etc.).

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In a small number of cases, we regret that a hold on some cards may impact legitimate cardholders:

Cards with a pre-existing cash balance. Cardholders with a cash balance and a hold on their card must verify their identity before the hold is lifted. To check if there is a balance on the card, please call us at 1-866-543-9160.  Once you have identified that your card has a balance, please stay on the line to get specific instructions regarding the identity verification process. [If you have a zero balance on your card, please do not contact us (see below for information) – the IRS has not yet deposited your refund to your card.]

You will be asked to fax legible copies of the following information for review by Intuit:

• Signed social security card
• Photo ID
• Proof of address (such as a utility bill)

We will also ask you to ensure that your fax includes a cover sheet containing the cardholder’s name and the last 4 digits of the card number.  If all three pieces of information above cannot be provided, or if the documents are illegible, we will not be able to release the hold on the card. Once that information is verified as legitimate, the hold will be released on your card.

Cards with zero balance. At this time, we are not removing holds on cards that have a zero balance. Cardholders with a zero balance and a hold on their card will not receive their 2011 federal tax refund loaded onto their card. Rather, the IRS will issue you a paper check, mailed to the physical address indicated in TurboTax which you should receive in 4-6 weeks.

The vast majority of TurboTax refund card customers will receive their card via mail 7-10 days after they sign up for it. Customers can check if their refund has been deposited to their card at www.turbotaxcard.com.
 
We appreciate your cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience.

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