Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

March 31, 2017 *** *** * *** *** *** ** *** Dear *** ***, This letter is in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (***) on March 25, 2017.To give you some background information
and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain ***’s relationship with *** Bank (Bank)*** is a third party processor for the BankThrough this relationship, *** is able to offer tax products which are sold through *** through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation servicesThe product you have used through ***, called a “Refund Transfer”, allowed you to pay for your tax preparation fees and Bank fee directly out of your tax refundThis service is optionalThis saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider. To help you understand our process we have listed out the events associated with your account as follows: According to our records, on February 20, 2017, *** received your electronic filing record from your online software provider, ***.comThis means that you elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your tax preparation feesCertain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspicious. Therefore, your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at *** 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*** is restricted from disclosing our fraud monitoring rule set and cannot share these criteria with taxpayers as it could compromise the protection we have for our clients, including yourself.Please note: Rather than rejecting the funds received by the IRS, which can delay your refund up to weeks, we allow our customers to submit an unexpired government issued photo ID and go through ID authentication***’s verification process can take up to business days to review the IDOnce we can validate that you are the taxpayer associated with the tax return filed, we release all funds received by the Government agencyFunds are held in a non-interest bearing account while we are waiting for the customer to respond to our enhanced due diligence requestIf the customer does not respond to our request within a timely manner, we return the funds to the IRS. On February 22, 2017, you were sent an email to the address on record to inform you of the account holdThis email gave instructions on how to release the hold.On February 27, 2017, *** sent a follow up email and provided instructions on how to release the hold on your account.On March 7, 2017, *** received payment related to your federal tax refund.As of March 30, 2017, *** has not received documentation to release the hold on your account To release the hold on your account, *** requires you to verify your identity by providing a copy of one of the following pieces of identification; Driver’s License, State Identification Card, or U.SPassportPlease upload the picture of your ID through ***’s website, *** Upon validation of your ID, your refund will be handled according to the instructions at the time of filingIf we are unable to obtain the personal information from you in order to verify your identity, we won’t be able to proceed any further in our efforts*** will be obligated to return the funds back to the IRS, specifically the RISC/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, CaliforniaOnce 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 theftWe understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact *** at ***, Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST). Sincerely, *** ***Program Operations Manager

September 7, *** ** *** *** * *** ***
*** **
*** *** ** *** Dear Mr***,
We sincerely apologize for the unpleasant experience that you have had. As we previously explained, we were unable to process your tax refund using the account number you provided. Your direct deposit was rejected by your bank and was returned to TPG on 06/17/due to a closed bank account. To help you, TPG also sent you a check on 6/17/to the address listed on your tax return, which was returned back to TPG on 7/05/due to an address marked 'undeliverable'. Please understand that identity theft is common for tax refunds and therefore, per TPG company policy, if a customer’s refund is rejected back to TPG twice, we are not allowed to send any more disbursements to that customer to help with fraud prevention Your tax refund was sent back to the IRS on 8/03/ Please speak to a tax advocate who can help you track your refund at the IRS: https://www.irs.gov/advocate/local-taxpayer-advocateFor your convenience, feel free to call your local IRS Advocate at 336-574-or toll free at 877-777-We appreciate you as a customer and apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused you. Under circumstances we would only be able to refund you the Refund Transfer fee, which is our product fee of $34.99. The other fees charged in the amount of $were charged by the software company for using their tax software to prepare your filing. However, as a onetime courtesy to you, and to keep you happy as a valued customer, we will refund the additional $for your software fee. We are happy to send you payment related to total fees charged of $but we do not have a valid payment method on file for you. Can you please provide us your current mailing address or bank account information so that we may remit the fee payment to you? If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 800-779-7228, Monday through Friday, 7am to 3pm Sincerely, Tax Products Group

March 8, *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** Dear Mr***, We are writing in regards to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 28, TPG understands your frustration with the hold that was placed on your accountWe are very sorry for any inconvenience you have experienced, but please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, TPG is required to set up processes to protect our clients and help limit identity theftWe appreciate your patience with regards to our process of verification and releasing holdsAccording to our records, as of March 1, 2017, TPG validated your identification and issued a direct deposit to the account on file If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at ***, 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

February 26, 2016
*** ***
*** ** *** **
*** ** ***
Dear Ms***,
This is in response to your
complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the
Revdex.com on February 18,
In your complaint, you
stated
that after filing your taxes, your taxes were sent to TPGYou contacted TPG’s
customer service and TPG asked you to verify your identityAfter successful
verification, your check would have been sent by mail
If a taxpayer enters a bank
account that will not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by
the receiving bankOftentimes this occurs because the taxpayer has entered
incorrect bank account information or the account is closedIn these cases,
the receiving bank rejects the transaction, and returns the funds to the
sender, in this case, TPGTPG has nothing to do with the incorrect account
information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject
the fundsOnce 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 fraudTPG was able to verify your
personal information after you uploaded the appropriate documents to TPG’s
websitePlease allow up to days for TPG to process and mail your check to
your address on file
If you have any other questions
or concerns, please feel free to contact me at ***, Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm
Sincerely,
*** ***
Compliance Analyst

March 22, ** *** *** * *** ***
*** ** *** Dear ** ***, This letter is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara *** *** *** (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 17, In the complaint
received, it was stated you used *** *** to file your tax return. You claim Intuit (***) did not disclose TPG would process fees associated with your return and additionally you were not informed TPG was a third party working with *** ***You want all fees refunded from TPG Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matterTPG, on behalf of *** Bank (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providersThese products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront feesWhen you prepared your taxes through *** ***, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) productWhen the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the BankWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank feeThe balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer To address your complaint while still protecting your identity, we have written you a detailed letter with specific information related to your accountOur letter outlines the timeline of events and referenced specific dollar amounts and account informationTo respond to your Revdex.com complaint, we will summarize the events, but please reference the letter we sent you for additional details On February 24, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from *** ***This means that you utilized tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees On March 14, 2017, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPGTPG deducted the fees related to your tax software fees and the RT fee and made payment to the account indicated on your tax returnThe deposit to the account was confirmed by the outgoing trace The SAMPLE screen shots and RT paperwork enclosed with our detailed letter will establish that our fees and references to the Bank are adequately displayed on the *** *** website as required by banking regulationsWe have included a copy of your Refund Transfer Application and Agreement for your review and personal filesYou electronically agreed to these governing terms and conditions through the software application On behalf of TPG, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experiencedIt is recommended that you contact the online software provider for further assistance related to the reimbursement of your tax preparation fees and audit purchasesThese services were selected during your tax filing through *** *** and TPG has no control over the services or reimbursements of these products 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) Sincerely, *** *** Program Operations Manager

*** ***
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RE:
Case ***
August 24,
Dear
Mrand Mrs***,
This is in response to the complaint filed
against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on
August 18, regarding identity theft.
Please allow
me to discuss who we are and what products we offer to taxpayers in order for
you to gain a better understanding of our role in processing your tax return
refund. The Citizens Banking Company
(Bank) offers tax related financial products through a network of tax
preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation
providers. Santa Barbara Tax Products
Group (TPG) is a third part processor for the Bank and is providing a response
on behalf of its partnerThe Bank provides a product known as the Refund
Transfer (RT). The RT provides the
taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax
refund without paying any out-of-pocket costs.
When the taxpayer prepares their taxes through Turbo Tax, they can
choose to deduct their fess from their refund.
When the taxpayer selects our bank product, they direct the IRS to
deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund
(usually less than days from the filing date), the Bank makes deductions
from the refund to pay the software user fees and deposit product fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed
to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer
(either a personal bank account or prepaid card). TPG is simply a third party processor which
serves as an intermediary between the IRS and the taxpayer and has no direct
access to the tax preparation event or the transmittal of the return to the
IRS
The return
was acknowledged and verified by the IRS, TPG has no reason to question the information
providedWe had to assume that the application sent to us was sent by the
taxpayer and that the sensitive personal and confidential information provided
therein was your account information
From
your inquiry, it appears that you may be a victim of identity theftIt is
recommended you take immediate steps to protect your personal information
File a report with the local policeFile a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC
Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-or TTY 1-866-653-Contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a ‘fraud
alert’ on your credit records:
Equifax,
1-800-525-Experian,
1-888-397-TransUnion,
1-800-680-Close any accounts opened without your permission or tampered
withIt is also recommended you take these additional steps:
Respond immediately to any IRS notice; call the number providedComplete IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft AffidavitUse a fill-able
form at IRS.gov, print, then mail or fax according to their instructionsFor your
convenience, I have also included a copy of this formContinue to pay your taxes and file your tax return, even if you
must do so by paperPlease
feel free to contact me at 877-***, Monday through Friday am to pm if
you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint
Respectfully,
***
***
Compliance
Analyst

February 26,
*** ***
*** *** ***
*** ** ***
Dear Ms***,
This is in response to your
complaint against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the RevDex.com on February 17,
You stated that after filing
your
taxes through TPG, you have been notified that there was an issue with your
accountWhen you spoke with TPG, you were asked to send in identification to
verify your account
Upon review of your record, the
reason your account was placed on a hold was because the account you directed
the refund to go to was closedIf a taxpayer enters a bank account that is
closed or incorrect, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank the
funds are returned to the sender, in this case, TPGTPG has nothing to do with
incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s
decision to reject the fundsOnce the funds are returned to TPG, the taxpayer
can authenticate her/his identity through our websiteIf a current, valid
government-issued photo ID is successfully uploaded the return can be released
to the taxpayerDuring this process, your account was flagged as potential ID
theftFor the protection of our valued customers, TPG’s policy is to return
all funds possibly associated with ID theft to the IRSWe apologize for any
inconvenience this has caused you
If you have any questions or
concerns about TPG’s process, please feel free to contact me at ***,
Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm
Sincerely,
*** ***
Compliance Analyst

Dear *** *** This letter is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 17, TPG understands your frustration in not being able to change the address which was originally transmitted to TPG on your Tax ReturnWe are very sorry for any inconvenience you have experiencedPlease understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, TPG is required to set up processes to protect our clients and help limit identity theftAccording to our records, as of February 22, 2017, a check in the amount of $5,was mailed to the address on fileAt this time there is nothing TPG can do to overnight your check or update the bank account information filed on your returnPlease allow up 5-business days for the check to reach your address on recordIf you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at ***, Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST), or you may utilize our live customer support chat by logging onto ***, Monday through Friday between 6:00am to 6:00pm (PST)Sincerely, *** *** Compliance Analyst

March 14, 2016 *** *** *** *** ** *** Dear Ms***, This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 3, 2015.Your complaint stated that you called TPG several times and
spoke with two specific representativesYou stated that one of the representatives hung up on you and the other promised to waive the $processing fee after you received your refund check.We apologize for the inconvenience TPG may have caused you when receiving your fundsWe also apologize for the manner which you felt our customer service agents handled your inquiryWe have spoken with *** regarding your complaint and reminded him of his obligation to always process customer inquiries in a respectful manner. You also stated that the representative with id #*** explained the process and reasoning for being charged the $processing feeThis representative also informed you TPG would not charge you the $processing fee and refund you the amountWe needed to verify this claim with the representative but we were unable to find this exact representative with the id #*** or #*** as they don’t exist. TPG will refund you the $processing fee and have a Cashier’s Check sent to your address on filePlease allow up to days for the check to reach your address Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why out service did not meet your expectationsIf you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at ***, Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm. Sincerely, *** ***Compliance Analyst

*** ***
*** *** *** ** *** ** ***
RE: Case ***
Dear *** ***,
This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on April 8, regarding ID theft / fraud
Please allow me to
explain the role of Tax Products Group (TPG) in the filing of your tax returnTPG, on behalf of The Citizens Banking Company, offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providersThese products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any out-of-pocket costsWhen the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the BankWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund usually less than days from the filing date, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank feesThe balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer either a personal bank account or a prepaid cardTPG is simply a third party processor which serves as an intermediary between the IRS and the taxpayer and has no direct access to the tax preparation event or the transmittal of the return to the IRS
The return was acknowledged and verified by the IRS, TPG has no reason to question the information providedWe had to assume that the application sent to us was sent by the taxpayer and that the sensitive personal and confidential information provided therein was your account informationAs you requested, TPG can return the funds back to the IRS but we require your authorizationPlease contact the TPG Risk Department at 800-814-to complete this process
From your inquiry, it appears that you may be a victim of identity theftIt is recommended you take immediate steps to protect your personal information
• File a report with the local police
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC Identity Theft Hotline at 877-438-or TTY 866-653-
• Contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a ‘fraud alert’ on your credit records:
o Equifax: 800-525-
o Experian: 888-397-
o TransUnion: 800-680-
• Close any accounts opened without your permission or tampered with
It is also recommended you take these additional steps:
• Respond immediately to any IRS notice; call the number provided
• Complete IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit
Please feel free to contact our Risk Customer Support line at 800-814-0401, Monday through Friday am to pm to discuss this issue further
Respectfully,
*** Kissinger
Senior Compliance Analyst

April 7,
*** ***
*** *** *** ***
*** ** ***
Dear *** ***,
On behalf of Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) we do
apologize for not notifying you regarding the status of your refund
TPG has a strict policy regarding our reprocessing
proceduresWhen a taxpayer’s refund is rejected by their bank, TPG will place
a hold on the account until the taxpayer’s identity is verifiedOnce TPG
verifies your identity, TPG will only reprocess your refund as a Cashier’s
Check to ensure that it will reach you within a timely mannerThis procedure
also ensures that there will not be any more issues after sending your refund
as a direct deposit again to the incorrect account
TPG experienced an unexpected spike in business which had
caused extreme demand on our resources and unfortunate delays in our
verification processWe apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you
TPG apologizes for any inconvenience you have experienced
when receiving your tax returnAs a courtesy, TPG will refund you the $
processing fee you incurred
Sincerely,
*** ***
Compliance Analyst

*** E ***
*** *** ***
*** *** CA ***
RE:
Case ***
Dear
*** ***,
This is in response to the complaint filed
against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group “TPG” to the
Revdex.com on
June 2, regarding fees.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer
(RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo TaxWhen the
taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a
temporary account at the Bank and the State return to be filed directly to the
StateWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund (usually less than days from the
filing date), the Bank makes deductions from the refund per your Sunrise Banks
N.ARefund Processing AgreementTurbo Tax software requires that the taxpayer
identify a bank account number where the customer wants the refund
deposited. The taxpayer is entirely
responsible for the information provided to the software including the
disbursement account where the refund will be deposited
TPG also notifies the customer, through
e-mail, at the time of funding, that the refund has been received and will be
deposited into the bank account. The
customer is given the TPG website and phone number if they have any questions
or problemsTPG allows taxpayers the opportunity to correct their initial
mistake and avoid reprocessing until the item is reprocessed, which may be
several days or several weeks. Customers,
who choose to do so, utilize the TPG website to change their account
information. However, no attempt was ever made relating to your
account
On
February 6, the IRS funded your federal return; $deposited into the
bank account per Sunrise Banks N.ARefund Processing Agreement and $1,
to AmazonYour bank rejected your funds and declared the account an R03/”No
Account/Unable to Locate Account”You may contact your bank and provide them
with trace number: for further details regarding the rejection
of fundsThe funds were returned to TPG on February 10, where the $reprocessing
fee and the $account research and legal processing fee was chargedThe
remaining $was returned to the IRS on March 26, Please allow
approximately 10-weeks from the date for the IRS to acknowledge receipt of
fundsIt is recommended that you contact the IRS at 800-829-for further
details
As
a courtesy, the reprocessing fee of $and the account research and legal
processing fee of $will be remitted back to the IRS for processingThis may
take several days to several weeks and is dependent on IRS processing timesPlease feel free to contact me at
877-***, Monday through Friday am to pm, forfurther details relating
to the refund and return transaction
Respectfully,
***
***
Compliance
Analyst

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
We received our refund after filing complaints with the Revdex.com, the Federal Reserve Board and the States Attorney GeneralThere was no reason to withhold our funds and we are still owed interest at the statutory rate of 9%
Regards,
*** ***

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*** ** ***
RE: Case ***
Dear *** ***,
Please
allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matter and clarify the information
provided to you by Turbo TaxTPG, on behalf of the 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 out-of-pocket costs. When your taxes were prepared
through Turbo 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
(usually less than days from the filing date), the Bank makes deductions
from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fees. The
balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an
account designated by the taxpayer (either a personal bank account or a prepaid
card).
TPG
has nothing to with incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or
the receiving bank’s decision to reject the fundsYour Bank rejected the funds
and declared the account an R“no account/unable to locate account”Once TPG
receives the rejected refund the company has the option of making another
attempt to disburse funds to the customer or simply returning the funds to the
IRS. This second attempt to deliver the
refund to the customer is for the benefit of the customer. If the funds were returned directly to the
IRS the refund would be delayed for an extended period of time to allow the IRS
to reprocess the funds and post to the taxpayer account. Therefore, when the rejected refund is
returned, TPG makes a good faith attempt to deliver the refund to the taxpayer
through an alternative delivery method, which is a paper check mailed to the
taxpayer address of record.
In
the scenario described in your complaint, your Bank will not cash the Cashier’s
Check without the secondary taxpayer’s signatureAs a third party processor
and similar to the IRS, we are unable to split or remove a taxpayer’s name from
a joint tax return refund check
Since
we could not proceed any further in our efforts, TPG has begun the process of
returning your funds to the IRSThis process can take up to 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 feel free to contact me at
877-908-7228, Monday through Friday am to pm if you have any further
concerns or questions regarding this complaint
Respectfully,*** ***
Compliance Analyst

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
its all lies my bank did not refuse the refund to be disposited in my fathers account.my father has had same account for last yrs.my refund went into his account last yr.I chose the refund to go into my fathers account to save me money.but out $refund I only wound up with around $i dont work to get gyp company to rob my refundi did not receive the $20.also this gyp company will lose more than the $they robbed from me when next yr at tax time I will post on *** and *** how they robbed most my refund

February 17,
*** ***
** *** ***
*** *** ** ***
Dear Ms***,
After speaking with you on the phone on 2/regarding you
refund, I confirmed with you that your account was taken off hold after TPG was
able to verify your informationYour refund check was
mailed to you on 2/Please allow up to days for the check to reach
the address provided to TPG
I would like to, again, formally apologize for the
inconvenience this has caused you and the manner in which your inquiry was
handled by our Customer ServiceCustomer courtesy is an extreme priority for
us and in this case, we apparently failed youAll the customer agents involved
have been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in
a respectful manner
Sincerely,
*** ***
Compliance Analyst

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[They have responded with
information1st I answered every question their unprofessional Supervisor
askedTheir supervisor was not at happy to hear my voice tone and yes I was
very anger and did not hide that factTheir supervisor had all the questions
answered he then proceeds to defend his companies’ illogical policies instead
of doing his job to deposit IRS fundsHe basically got mad at me because said
I cursed at him then he says ok sir based on your negative comments I will be
sending your funds back to the IRSThere would be no way of any kind of fraud
to be determined based on what I was asked and did answer these is have
been doing my direct deposits for over ten years know all of a sudden there is
a fraud without any proof these is should be put out of business]
Regards,
*** ***

April 18,
*** ***
*** *** **
*** ** ***
Dear Ms***,
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 4,
In your complaint, you stated that you filed
your tax return
through Turbo Tax and chose the direct deposit optionOn February you
received a notification from the IRS approving your refundAfter a week of not
receiving your refund, you logged onto TPG’s website to learn there was a hold
You uploaded your information but still was unable to receive your refundYou
are also concerned about the fees you incurred while your refund was processed
Upon review of your account, your account was placed on hold
because the account number you entered was deemed invalidIn the scenario
described in your complaint you have chosen a do-it-yourself (DIY) tax
preparation software package such as Intuit’s popular *** productThe
taxpayer is entirely responsible for the information provided to the software
including the disbursement account where the refund will be depositedIf the
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 bank account is closedIn these
cases, the receiving bank “rejects” the transaction and returns the fund to the
sender, in this case, TPGTPG has nothing to do with incorrect account
information by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the
fundsOnce TPG receives the rejected refund, the company has the option of
making another attempt to disburse funds to the customer or simply return the
funds to the IRS
While
the process of converting the rejected deposit to a paper check ultimately
provides benefit to the customer, there is a substantial cost to TPG for
handling these items. TPG charges a
commercially reasonable processing fee to cover the expenses associated with
processing these items. Most banks
typically charge between $and $for return item fees. Please review the attached application and
agreement for full disclosure
Due to the amount of compromised SSNs along with non-public
personal information (NPPI) throughout the country, we have put controls in
place to prevent identity theft and fraudTPG feels this is the most prudent
course of action to protect taxpayers given the current environmentTPG is
committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that only you can access your
funds
On April 5, 2016, TPG was able to verify your information
and released the hold on your account TPG sent your refund as a Cashier’s Check via
regular mail to your address on record on the same dayPlease allow up to
business days for your check to reach your address
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectationsIf you have any other questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm
Sincerely,
*** ***
Compliance Analyst

Dear *** ***, This letter is in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 23, In your complaint, you state there have been issues in obtaining your unclaimed propertyYou have made several
attempts in contacting TPG via phone and email that have been unsuccessfulTo resolve your issue, you would like TPG to inform you of the list of your unclaimed property To address your complaint, we have listed the timeline of events below: According to our records, you have not cashed your refund check issued in TPG then followed policy and began the process of escheating the dormant funds. TPG uses *** LLC to handle our escheatment process for dormant accounts. As of August 2017, *** LLC sent you an Indemnity Bond request as a final attempt to have your funds re-issued*** LLC confirmed that they have not received this letter back from you.On December 20, 2017, you contacted TPG via email at [email protected], inquiring about your lost funds and requested a reissuancePlease reference the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record for funding amountOn that same date, TPG was unable to verify your identity with the information provided, therefore advised you to authenticate yourself with the following options below:Log onto the TPG Website (www.sbtpg.com) using:Your Social Security NumberThe expected amount of your federal refundYour tax filing status (Single Married Filing Joint, Head of House Hold, etc)Send us your name and the last four of the SSN, or the Customer ID# On February 23, 2018, you contacted TPG for the second time inquiring about your unclaimed fundsDuring that communication, you did not provide the information previously requested for ID verificationYou informed TPG about a Letter received from the State Controller’s Office informing you to contact TPG for your unclaimed propertyOn that same date, TPG requested for you to provide a copy of that LetterOn February 26, 2018, TPG received a formal complaint regarding the receipt of your unclaimed propertyHowever, TPG also received a copy of the requested Letter simultaneouslyUpon receipt of your Letter, TPG was able to verify your identitySince then, we have been doing everything we can to pull your funds out of escheatment at *** LLC. In order to proceed, please provide a completed notarized copy of the Indemnity Bond mailed to the address on record to [email protected], which you were also provided a copy of via email this morningPlease be advised, as stated on the Indemnity Bond, the processing time to re-issue a new check could take up to days If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact TPG directly at 858-550-5072, Monday through Friday, 7:am to 4:pm PST Respectfully, *** *** Program Operations Analyst

February 26,
*** ***
*** *** *** *** ***
class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" "text-align:justify">*** ** ***
Dear Ms***,
This is in response to
your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the
Revdex.com on February 17,
Your complaint stated
that on February your tax refund was released but was not placed into the
bank account you providedSince then, you have been trying to contact the TPG
customer service but were unable to receive the information you needed regarding
your tax return
If a taxpayer enters a
bank account that is closed, incorrect, or the account is associated with a
different issue the transaction is rejected by the receiving bankIn these
cases when the receiving bank rejects the transaction, the funds are sent back to
the sender, in this case TPGTPG has nothing to do with incorrect account
information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject
the fundsTPG allows taxpayers the opportunity to correct their initial
mistake by validating their current, valid government-issued photo
identification through our website, something you completed successfully on
February
TPG was able to verify
your identification and released the hold from your accountTPG processed your
refund as a check on February Please allow up to days for your check to
be delivered to your address on file
If you have any
questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at ***, Monday
through Friday, 7am to 4pm
Sincerely,
*** ***
Compliance Analyst