Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

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.
Why was I not contacted when my bank rejected the deposit?  Why when after I verified my account numbers which I pulled off of last years return would they not retry the direct deposit when I asked? Why does their site say 7 business days to verify and yet it took ten business days?  I asked for my check to be overnighted due to mr and my family being inconvienced and waiting a full extra month on our return now i'm waiting seven business days for a check.  And finally on top of all of this I've been charged a 20 dollar reprocessing fee.  This is absolutly the worst customer service I have ever seen
Regards,
[redacted]

March 10, 2017   [redacted] A [redacted] 39 Prospect Street Apt 3E Milford, CT 06460 Dear Mr. [redacted], We are writing in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 6, 2017. Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this...

matter. TPG, on behalf of Green Dot (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 February 4, 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 14, 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 8, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification, released the account hold and disbursed your refund to the designated account you provided upon filing. 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 take this complaint very seriously and are taking immediate internal action to review and research your claims of our verification process. Customers may need to re-upload due to entering incorrect information in the required fields, identification is deemed blurry, or if they abandoned the process before reaching the “success” screen. We appreciate your feedback. We are very sorry for any inconvenience you may 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 theft. As a courtesy to you, TPG has decided to refund the RT fee as a direct deposit to the account on file. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at [redacted], 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 Barbra Tax Products Group

[redacted]
"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[redacted]
[redacted]
RE:
Case [redacted]
Dear
[redacted],
This
letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products
Group to the Revdex.com of San Diego on April 9, regarding held funds and
customer service issues
As
part of routine audits we undertake in cooperation with the IRS, if a record is
flagged funds are held in order to verify the identity of each record holder
These controls are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and
fraud
As
a third party processor for Sunrise Banks, N.A., our regulators require that we
follow identification procedures, which are part of the statute of the USA
Patriot Act, by requesting and processing copies of your unexpired
government-issued picture ID, Social Security card and other supporting
documentationThank you for your cooperation in forwarding the required
documents, we realize this is a sensitive issue with the rise in ID theft and
fraudPlease note that all confidential information is handled securelyOnce
you were verified as the lawful owner of the funds, your refund was released on
April 9,
Thank
you for the inquiry and the opportunity to resolve the issueIf you have any
further concerns or questions regarding this complaint please feel free to
contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday am to pm
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Compliance
Analyst

February 26,
[redacted]
class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" "text-align:justify">[redacted]
Dear Ms[redacted],
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
on February your tax return was sent back to TPGAfter sending TPG your
identification, you were given a different number of days when your account
would be released from the holdYou tried contacting TPG's customer service
but were unable to reach an agent
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 has requested you to provide
your state license and social security number in order to verify that you are
the correct account holderYour identification was then successfully verified
and the hold from your account releasedOn February 20, TPG processed your tax
refund as a check and mailed it to you on the same datePlease allow up to
days for the check to reach your address listed
If you have any more questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

February 26,
[redacted]
class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" "text-align:justify">[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 19,
In your complaint, you stated
that after filing through [redacted], the IRS sent back your refund to TPG to be
processedYou spoke with TPG's customer service for a number of days unable to
learn when your refund would be returned to you
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 has requested that you provide
your valid personal ID to verify that you are the correct account holderTPG
was able to verify your information and released the hold from your accountOn
February 20, TPG processed your tax refund as a check and mailed it to you on
the same datePlease allow up to days for the check to reach your listed
address
We apologize for the manner in
which your inquiry was handled by our customer service agents. Customer courtesy is an extreme priority for
us and in this case, we apparently failed you.
All the customer agents involved have been reminded of their obligation
to always process customer inquiries in a respectful manner
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

[redacted]
"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
RE:
Case [redacted]
August 12,
Dear
[redacted],
This is in response to the complaint filed
against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on
August 9, in regards to service issues
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer
(RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo TaxOn March 13,
2015, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo
Tax user fees and an additional bank deposit product feeThe balance was
deposited to the account instructed on Sunrise Banks N.ARefund Processing
AgreementYour Bank rejected the funds and declared the account an R"No
Account / Unable to Locate Account"Funds were returned to TPG on March 18,
TPG
has nothing to with incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or
the receiving bank's decision to reject the fundsOnce TPG receives the
rejected refund our company has the option of making another attempt to
disburse funds to the customer or simply returning the funds to the IRSThis
second attempt to deliver the refund through an alternative delivery method is
a paper check mailed to the taxpayer address of recordThe address provided to
the Revdex.com is different than the address designated upon filingOur attempt to
deliver the cashier's check on March 18, was returned on April 13, to our office as "undeliverable"
Since
we could not proceed any further in our efforts, TPG returned your funds to the
IRS on May 1, 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 detailsPlease 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
We
thank you for the inquiryIf you have any further concerns or questions
regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228,
Monday through Friday am to pm
Respectfully,
[redacted]
[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.I'm actually highly confused by this. Was this supposed to be a resolution? Because in no way, shape, or form am I satisfied. Not even close. The IRS says that they still have not released my tax return back to them, despite it being over two weeks since it was sent to you. They still have received absolutely no word from you. Other than my complaint to the Revdex.com, I have no received no contact from you. Who thinks it is acceptable to steal money from someone? I will NEVER again due business with [redacted] if they continue to do business with SBTPG. Fortunately, from my talks with [redacted], it appears that your contract will not be renewed next year. I will not be satisfied until I receive my money, IN FULL, as soon as possible. 
Regards,
[redacted]

April 18, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint against Santa Barbara
Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on May 9, 2016.
In your complaint you stated that you filed your taxes...

using
the Refund Transfer (RT) to have your fees taken out of your refund. On March
30, you uploaded your identification after learning your refund was on hold.
After waiting over the 7 day timeframe, you have not been able to reach someone
to inquire about the hold on your account.
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 customer call center. We
apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and the difficulty to reach
a customer service agent.
Upon review of your record, TPG did not receive your refund
from the IRS since you filed your tax return. After having a representative
contact the IRS on your behalf, TPG wanted to explain to you where your funds
went. Your refund has been applied to past dues owed to the government, such as
for example, child support, another federal agency debt, or state income tax.
The IRS will send you a notice explaining why you have not received your refund
since you filed your return.
For further information or questions regarding your tax
return, please contact the IRS at 800-304-3107.
On behalf of TPG, I would like to apologize to you for any
inconvenience you may have experienced. 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

March 2, 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
22, 2016.
Your complaint stated that after...

you filed your tax return
through Turbo Tax, you were told to call TPG because your refund was not direct
deposited into your account. You tried a number of times to call TPG’s customer
service, but was unable to speak to someone. Once you were able to reach a
representative, claiming she was very rude to you when you spoke with her.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 17, 2016 the IRS funded your federal
return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax 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 [redacted] ACH Department at [redacted] and
provide them with trace number: [redacted], date of disbursement and
amount for further details regarding
the rejection of funds. The funds were returned to TPG on February 18, 2016.
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 the 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 the 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 return the funds to the
IRS.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and
the manner in which your inquiry was handled by our Customer Service
agents.  All the customer agents involved
have been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in
a respectful manner. 
Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity
theft and fraud. On February 23, TPG was able to verify your information and
release the hold on your account. Our records shows that you check was verified
on February 26.
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

Dear [redacted], This letter is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 23, 2017. In the complaint received, you state your refund was forwarded to Santa Barbara Tax Products Group but the company (TPG) will...

not release the funds, although the IRS funded over a week ago. You further claim it was not clearly disclosed that these funds would not be released directly to your bank account, but would be intercepted by TPG. Upon contacting TPG, you were notified to upload a copy of your Driver’s License, so you uploaded immediately. On February 22, 2017, you were contacted once again by TPG informing you there was a problem with your upload, therefore requesting you to upload again. TPG failed to provide you with any details concerning the “problem” or the need to continue uploading the same document. At this time TPG has your refund and you wish to resolve this issue as soon as possible. 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. TPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of 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 25, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted].com. This means that you used [redacted].com software to prepare your tax return and elected to utilize a “Refund Transfer” (RT) to pay for your software fees. On February 3, 2017, due to certain fraud filters your account was flagged for unusual activity in a non­interest bearing account for additional verification. At that time, TPG notified you that a hold had been placed on your account via the email address provided upon filing this year’s tax return. 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. TPG’s verification process can take up to 7 business days to review the ID. Due to industry requirements and company policy, if an account is flagged for unusual activity we are required to perform additional account due diligence in order to authenticate the identity of the taxpayer.  Many companies, including most banks, feel that tax refunds with suspicious account attributes are high risk and rather than trying to perform additional due diligence they simply return the funds to the IRS.  TPG feels a better option for their valued customers is to try to perform additional steps to validate accounts and release the holds.  We understand that 7 business days is inconvenient, but we feel confident that a minor inconvenience of seven days is much superior to a 10 - 12 week delay, which is what the customers would be facing if the funds are returned to the IRS. On February 14, 2017, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG, but remained on hold. Unfortunately, the identification documentation you sent to TPG was unsuccessful to release the hold and you were asked to re-authenticate on February 22, 2017. Customers may have difficulties due to entering incorrect information in the required fields, identification is deemed blurry, or if they abandoned the process before reaching “success” screen.  On February 28, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification and released the account hold. On that same day, TPG deducted the fees related to your Refund Transfer and made a payment in the account indicated on your tax return. Please refer to the detail client letter mailed to the address on file for tracking details. 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. Please request and reference the Refund Transfer Application and Agreement from [redacted] Tax. The terms and conditions related to holds will be noted in two separate sections:   5.  Acknowledgements. (a) You understand that: (i) neither Bank nor Processor can guarantee the amount of your tax year 2016 federal tax refund or the date it will be issued, and (ii) neither Bank nor Processor is affiliated with the transmitter of the tax return (Intuit) and neither warrants the accuracy of the software used to prepare the tax return. (b) You agree that Intuit is not acting as your agent and is not under any fiduciary duty with respect to the processing of your refund by Bank and Processor. (c) Your refund may be held or returned to the IRS if it is suspected of fraud or identity theft.12.  Customer Identity Validation Disclosure. To help Bank, Processor and the government identify and fight tax refund fraud, as well as fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Bank and Processor obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each Refund Processing Service client. What this means for you: When you apply to use the Refund Processing Service for the purpose of receiving your federal tax refund, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents if we need to perform additional due diligence on your account. We are very sorry for any inconvenience you have experienced. 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 theft. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. 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 First, I have never received an e-mail from this company, although [redacted] successfully sent me e-mails after my filing. Only when I called the IRS did I discover that this company was holding my refund.  When I sent copies of my ID, I had to search for the web site to discover that they were still holding my money ransom, and I had to resend my information.Second, when the account cleared they had withdrawn an additional $40 over the original fee. Nowhere in the contract does it legalize a second, larger withdrawal. So this company manufactures a phony story about the account, holds the refund until a ransom of $40 is paid. $40 isn’t a lot, until you realize this company is handling millions of refunds, and skimming $40 off even 500,000 of them would net $20 million dollars
Regards,
[redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted],   This letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 28, 2018.   In the complaint received, you state you were unaware of TPG being involved with [redacted] Tax as a Third party. After...

several attempts in contacting [redacted] Tax, you were informed your refund was rejected by your bank due to an incorrect routing number. The funds were then returned to TPG. TPG informed you of the rejection and had you complete a reprocessing form to reissue a new check. Once you received the check you realized TPG charged you a total of $59.99 for their mistake. To resolve the issue, you would like TPG to reimburse you $59.   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, on January 29, 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 February 6, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. On that same date, TPG deducted the software tax preparation fee, the RT processing fee of $39.99 and deposited the remaining balance to the bank account you designated on your tax return. On February 9, 2018, your financial institution rejected the funds and declared the account an, R04 / Invalid Account Number, and the funds were returned to TPG. Please reference the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record for further details regarding this rejection, bank account Routing information and the ACH contact number to your bank. 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 9, 2018, TPG made a second attempt to disburse funds via a Cashier’s Check mailed to the address on record. On March 1, 2018, you contacted TPG stating funds have not been received. At that time TPG emailed you an Indemnity Bond (IBOND) to the address on record, [email protected]. It was explained the IBOND would place a stop payment on the lost/stolen cashier’s check and issue a replacement check. On March 13, 2018, you contacted TPG once more stating the IBOND had not been received. On that same date, TPG sent another IBOND via email and advised you to call back if it was not received.On March 19, 2018, you contacted TPG and requested to have the IBOND sent to the following email, [redacted][email protected]. Per your request, TPG emailed an IBOND to the new address provided.On March 21, 2018, TPG received and processed the IBOND form. On that same date, TPG issued a new Cashier’s Check to the address on record. As of March 30, 2018, TPG has confirmation funds related to your return have been cleared by a financial institution.   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 included 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.   However, as a one-time courtesy we 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

March 14, 2016
[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 March 8, 2016.
Please allow me to...

explain the role of TPG in this
matter and clarify the information provided to you by [redacted]. 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], 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 21 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.  
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 fraud. TPG feels this is the most prudent
course of action to protect taxpayers given the current environment. TPG is
committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that only you can access your
funds.
Despite your history with us, your account was flagged for
further review. On March 14, TPG was able to verify your information and
released the hold on your account. Your refund has been direct deposited into
the account you provided when filing your taxes.  The RT fee will also be refunded and mailed
as a Cashier’s Check to the address on record.  
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations and the additional feedback to serve our
customers notification of these holds to provide better service.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel
free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 Sincerely,
[redacted]
Senior Compliance Analyst

April 25, 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 April 16, 2016. In your complaint, you stated that after you filed your...

tax return through [redacted] Tax, you learned TPG placed a hold on your account and you needed to send in a copy of your identification. You state that you will not send in your identification due to ID fraud. Upon review of your account, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted] Tax. On April 2, your funds were placed on an automatic hold due to risk control triggered by information transmitted in your return. TPG initiated an identity verification process to ensure it was submitting funds to the appropriate person. On April 8, the IRS funded your federal return. As the bank’s processor, we are required to take reasonable steps to ensure we are sending funds to the lawful owner to ensure that the process is not part of a fraudulent scheme.  Asking for identification is a reasonable and necessary step to limit identity theft. In order for TPG to release the hold on your account, you were asked to submit a valid form of identification to be verified through our website, www.sbtpg.com. To date, TPG has not received any documents from you to verify your identity. In this case, a manual review was conducted and your funds were released via the disbursement option you originally requested through [redacted] Tax. Please allow up to 48 hours to post to your financial institution. 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

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 don't feel I should incur anymore charges, which means taking time and paying a notary is more charges. I paid for direct deposit that never happened and now you want to take out another fee and pay for a notary...? I will pay for notary if you reimburse me 25.  
Regards,
[redacted]

Dear Mr[redacted],
"">
As discussed in previous communications, TPG provides a product known as the Refund Transfer, or RT. The RT allows a taxpayer to have their tax software fees deducted directly from the tax refund amount instead of the taxpayer having to front any out of pocket expenses at the time of tax preparation. 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.
In accordance with your online contract, a temporary account was opened to receive and process your income tax refund and pay your tax preparation fees from your refund. Upon review of your record, the IRS funded your federal return on February 14, Fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RTTPG deposited the balance to the account instructed on The Citizens Banking Company Refund Processing Agreement.
When TPG received your complaint, we contacted Turbo Tax to resolve the issue. It was discovered that you had selected an offer on their website to disburse some of your refund into the Amazon.com Refund Bonus Program The customer can choose how much of their federal refund they'd like to use to purchase an Amazon.com gift card with the remainder being direct deposited to the bank account they provide. The customer confirms the email address to which the gift card claim code is sent to, prior to electronically filing their tax return.
You were put in contact with one of Turbo Tax's Advanced Care and Escalation Services Leaders in order to resolve this issue since TPG has no visibility into this program. Turbo Tax claimed that they emailed you the remaining claim codes on March 19, which you responded you received. It is recommended that you contact Turbo Tax again for further discussion and resolution
We thank you for the inquiryIf you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday am to pm PST.
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Compliance Assistant
Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Dear [redacted], This letter is in response to the complaint against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group through the Revdex.com on April 4, 2017. To give you some background information and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain TPG’s relationship with...

Green Dot Bank (Bank). TPG is a third party processor for the Bank. Through this relationship, Green Dot is able to 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 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 [redacted]. Please reference the enclosed copy of the Refund Transfer Application and Agreement. To help you understand our process we have listed out the events associated with your account as follows:  ·        According to our records, on March 15, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from your online software provider, [redacted]. This means that you elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your tax preparation fees in lieu of paying via credit card.·        Certain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspicious. Therefore, your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at TPG to protect your account from fraud. This hold was placed before the IRS funded the return. 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. TPG 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.Due to industry requirements and company policy, if an account is flagged for unusual activity we are required to perform additional account due diligence in order to authenticate the identity of the taxpayer.  Many companies, including most banks, feel that tax refunds with suspicious account attributes are high risk and rather than trying to perform additional due diligence they simply return the funds to the IRS.  TPG feels a better option for their valued customers is to try to perform additional steps to validate accounts and release the holds. Please note: Rather than rejecting the funds received by the IRS, which can delay your refund up to 12 weeks, we allow our customers to submit an unexpired government issued photo ID and go through ID authentication. TPG’s verification process can take up to 7 business days to review the ID. Once we can validate that you are the taxpayer associated with the tax return filed, we release all funds received by the Government agency. Funds are held in a non-interest bearing account while we are waiting for the customer to respond to our enhanced due diligence request. If the customer does not respond to our request within a timely manner, we return the funds to the IRS.           ·        On March 17, 2017, you were sent an email to the address on record to inform you of the hold. ·        On March 22, 2017, you started the identification process. Unfortunately, the identification documentation you sent to TPG was unsuccessful to release the hold and you were asked to re-authenticate. Customers may have difficulties due to entering incorrect information in the required fields, identification is deemed blurry, or if they abandoned the process before reaching the “success” screen.  ·        On March 28, 2017, TPG received payment from the IRS related to your 2016 federal tax refund and it remained on hold in a non-interest bearing account. ·        On March 5, 2017, you called TPG and stated you do not want to upload a Photo ID for verification and requested to have your funds sent back to the IRS. ·        On April 10, 2017 TPG began the process of returning your funds to the IRS, specifically the RISC/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, CA. This process can take at least 15 business days.   Please keep in mind, once the funds are returned to the IRS it can be several weeks before they acknowledge receipt and post to your account. Please contact the IRS at [redacted] for further details. We are very sorry for any inconvenience you have experienced. 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 theft.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at [redacted], Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST). Respectfully,   [redacted] Compliance Analyst

March 15,
2016
[redacted] [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
                This
is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group
(TPG)...

through the Revdex.com on March 7, 2016.
According to your complaint, you filed your tax
return; however, the account number was entered incorrectly and your refund was
sent back to TPG by your financial institution. You stated 7 days passed since
you uploaded your ID and have yet to resolve this matter.
Upon review of your record, an RT was chosen when you
taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 23, 2016 the IRS funded the federal return; fees were deducted to pay
the Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT. The
balance was deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Bank Refund
Processing Agreement. The financial institution rejected the funds. Please
note, as a risk control, rejected transactions are placed on hold until TPG can
verify the taxpayer’s identity, at which time a Cashier’s Check is issued.
On March 1, 2016, you contacted TPG to inform TPG
that you sent the appropriate documents to identify yourself as the account
holder.  You were advised it would take
up to seven business days to verify your information. Please note, due to the
volume during the same time frame, TPG extended the review period.  
On March 8, 2016, TPG was able to verify your
information and released the hold on the account.  The refund was reissued as a Cashier’s Check
on March 8, 2016. TPG confirmed that the check was verified on March 14, 2016.
Based on the USA Patriot Act, TPG is required to take
reasonable steps to ensure it is sending a check to the appropriate person to
ensure that the process is not part of a fraudulent scheme.  Asking for
identification is a reasonable and necessary step to limit identity theft.
It is unfortunate that it does take several days for
the process but most taxpayers appreciate knowing that reasonable safeguards
are in place to prevent someone from committing identity theft and stealing a
taxpayer’s refund in this manner.  
TPG is sorry for
any inconvenience that you may have experienced. If you have any questions or concerns, please
do not hesitate to contact me directly at
[redacted], Monday through Friday 7:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Senior Compliance Analyst, SBTPG

March 10, 2016
 
[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 2,
2016.
Your complaint stated that...

you filed your tax return on
February 3, 2016. Due to the unfortunate events that occurred in your life, you
needed the refund money as soon as possible. You tried contacting TPG a number
of times only to be told that you needed to upload your identification to
verify your account. After following the procedures, TPG did not verify your
account.
Controls are in place
to protect our customers from identity theft. After speaking with you on March
7, I was able to have your identification verified and the hold released from
your account. On the same day, TPG was able to process your check and mail it
to your address on file. Please allow up to 7 days for the check to reach your
address.
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations. We hope we were able to offer a fair
solution to your complaint. 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

Dear Mr. [redacted],   This letter is in response to the complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 21, 2018.   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. You electronically agreed to these terms and conditions through your online service provider, [redacted] Tax.   To address your complaint, we have listed the timeline of events below: According to our records, on February 6, 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 February 21, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. On that same date, TPG deducted the fees related to your Refund Transfer and made payment via direct deposit to the account indicated on your RT Application and Agreement. Later that day, you called TPG inquiring about the status of your refund. It was confirmed a deposit was made to the account designated on the return and if the funds were rejected, TPG would issue a Cashier’s Check to the address on record.On February 22, 2018, you called TPG requesting an address change. Unfortunately, due to increased security measures to protect your personal information, TPG has controls in place to minimize potential fraudulent tax returns.  These controls do not allow us to change bank account or address information. On February 23, 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 your address for RTN, DAN, Trace Number and Banking information.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, 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 23, 2018, TPG made a second attempt to disburse funds via a Cashier’s Check mailed to the address on record. It is advised to allow at least 10 business days for receipt. On February 28, 2018, you called TPG inquiring about the status of your refund check and informed TPG that a change of address was filed with the Post Office. It was advised for you to allow the full 10 business days from the sent date, February 23, 2018, to receive the check that was mailed.On March 9, 2018, you called TPG inquiring if a “Do Not Forward” mark was placed on your check. It was confirmed that was not the case. Since this was the 10th business day, you were advised to call back at the end of the day if the check was not received to proceed with the next steps. On March 12, 2018, you called TPG and confirmed the check had not been received. At that time, TPG offered to start the Indemnity Bond Process (IBOND). It was explained, the IBOND will place a stop payment on the lost/stolen cashier’s check and issue a replacement check. During that call, you informed TPG that you would not like to process an IBOND, instead you would prefer to wait a couple more days to receive the check in the mail. It was explained, if the check was returned to TPG, the funds would be returned to the IRS.On March 19, 2018, you called TPG and stated funds have not been received. At that time, you were provided documentation to complete and return an IBOND.On March 20, 2018, you requested for TPG to instead have your funds returned to the IRS.On March 21, 2018, TPG began the process to have your funds returned to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), specifically the RICS/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, CA. Please be advised this process can take several weeks for TPG to process back to the IRS. Once we have returned funds to the IRS it can take 10-12 weeks before they acknowledge receipt and post to your account. It is recommended at that time for you to contact the IRS at 800-829-0922 for further details.   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 attempting to disburse funds into the account as directed on the Agreement and a second attempt to the address on record.   TPG is very sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced. 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 and fraud. 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,     [redacted] Program Operations Analyst