TurboTax Debuts Early Refund Tool For Tax Season

TurboTax has introduced what it calls a first-of-its-kind tax refund offering.

It’s part of a suite of new offerings the Intuit-owned tax filing service introduced Wednesday (Jan. 8), ahead of the 2024 tax season.

“For millions of Americans, the tax refund, averaging over $3,000, represents the largest paycheck of the year,” TurboTax said in a news release. “Getting fast access to those funds can be indispensable.”

The company pointed to an in-house survey showing that the vast majority of Generation Z consumers expects a refund this year, with plans to use it to cover necessities like rent. And this is a generation that prefers digital payments, as research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows.

With that in mind, TurboTax has introduced its 5 Days Early Refund Offering, which — as the name suggests — lets consumers have their refund delivered five days before IRS settlement for a flat $25 fee.

In addition, the company said it will continue to offer its refund advance loan to tax filers who need funds right away, with loans of up to $4,000.

Meanwhile, other PYMNTS Intelligence research has found that consumers don’t mind paying a fee to get refund payments early. While that study focused mainly on reimbursements for overpayments, consumer appetite for instant payments is much broader.

For example, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Measuring Consumer Satisfaction With Instant Payouts” found that more than 58% of Americans who earn income for freelance, contract or consulting work would be willing to pay a fee to get their earnings instantly.

Similarly in “How Truckers Use Instant Payments to Support Their Lifestyles,” PYMNTS Intelligence determined that 93% of professional truck drivers in the U.S. would choose to collect their paychecks instantly if that option was available.

Another study found that 78% of Americans were highly satisfied with receiving government disbursements, retirement distributions, dividend payouts and insurance settlements instantly.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last month about efforts to provide faster refunds to consumers of retail establishments.

“Returns are part of any retailer’s relationship with customers — and buyer’s remorse can translate into a sticky customer relationship if returns and refunds are handled adroitly,” that report said, pointing to research showing that merchants that anticipate an uptick in revenue are 31% likelier to offer online returns than those that expect no revenue change.