Santa Barbara Tax Products Group [SBTPG]
Reviews and Complaints

I believe these people need to have everyone on here with word for word complaints should waste everyone's time like Santa Barbara has done too us is to do a class action lawsuit for the fraudulent activities, I have almost completely been robbed from Turbo Tax/intuit and Santa Barbera for fees and run arounds and delays, I now blocked from emails.

hi my name is candace coachman, i am writing on behalf of Pro Tax in Dothan, Al. I got a tax loan for 400 dollars back in December of 2019, with my checkstubs and i didnt not authorize them to send my taxes without my W2, but they did anyway. They are taking people money by doing this and they are electronically signing people paper and not putting their information in correctly. Im asking that my check be sunt to me personally at my home address without fees being taken out because what they are doing is illegal and they are also re routing people state checks and part of people federal income tax checks through this bank. if this issue isnt resolved through this bank then i will take legal action through this bank as well as the tax company. They have been doing this for years and getting away with it its really illegal for them to use poeple information, sale people kids to get a profit and they are doing through this bank. So im requesting that action be taking immediately and that everyone they used through this bank records be check beause this put a burden on the bank as well as tax payers.

This company makes it impossible to get a hold of a real person - if it weren't for their affiliations with TurboTax and TaxSlayer, I would initiate a federal investigation against their monetary practices - specifically withholding peoples' refunds without notice within interest-bearing accounts. I filed my taxes through TaxSlayer with the "File & Go" option by which filing fees are automatically deducted from the refund. TaxSlayer uses SBTPG to service this transaction. Without notice, SBTPG placed a hold on my account - the IRS sent the refund over a week ago. I was prompted to provide a government-issued ID to their site via Net-verify, which I promptly did. The site said the upload was successful, but there has been no further feedback on status - and again, I'm unable to contact anyone from this quasi-shell company. This is particularly disturbing considering the number of refunds they have control over and the amount of money at stake.

These guys are impossible to work with! They have my tax refund and are saying I need to validate who I am, so I sent in my drivers license photo, and tried calling them to get assistance. I have called every number they have and none of them will get you to a real person to discuss the issues. They said my account is on hold due to "suspicious activity" which is a bunch of bs. I have filed a bbb report too and I will be contacting the news media because these guys are a scam! They are sitting on the funds from everyone's returns to get a higher return of interest in their cash holding account. Shame on turbotax for not getting ahead of this from the last several years and severing ties with this fraudulent company. The sec needs to investigate because I am pretty sure this could be considered wire fraud as they are sitting illegally on people's money.

Hello. I am writing this because I was not given the correct information about my refund. I was told that I would receive 324 dollars for my taxes! But when I checked my status that was not correct. My refund is 824 dollars! I have never been charged that much money to file! Teresa Rice is the woman who filed my taxes. In Huntsville Al on March 19 2018. This is not right. I hope to get results soon. You can contact me at(314) 489-3105 or via email at [protected]@gmail.com

I submitted my 2017 tax return through TurboTax on February 27, 2018. I received an email from SBTPG (which is a company that I had previously never heard of before) on March 8 saying that my account "has been placed on hold" due to "unusual account activity" and the email from SBTPG requested that I send a U. S. government issued ID to release the hold. I sent a follow up email to SBTPG on March 12 (at 7:21PM CT) asking for clarification on what the "unusual activity" was, and promptly received a response on March 13 (at 10:20AM CT) saying "Your account was flagged by the IRS and we were instructed to verify your identity." The IRS website says that my refund was approved and sent to "my bank" on March 14. I tried calling SBTPG multiple times (using the number provided on their website for people who "prepared your own return") and each time (March 9, March 12, March 20, March 21), the company played an automated message (referring me to their website) and then hung up the call without giving me the opportunity to actually speak with anyone on the phone. I sent another follow up email to SBTPG on March 20 asking for a phone number so that I could speak with someone at SBTPG on the phone about getting my refund, and have yet to receive any response (despite receiving a confirmation email on March 20 that my "request has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff.") I called TurboTax three different times between March 20 and 21, and was told on March 20 by TurboTax that SBTPG was holding my refund because of a "security measure" due to "amount of the refund… because it's so big." According to TurboTax, the person they spoke with over the phone at SBTPG did not mention anything about "unusual activity" or the IRS. I would like TurboTax and SBTPG to send my refund to my bank account (as requested in my tax reform paperwork) immediately.

My tax return was filed by 1st Action Tax, 66359 Montgomery Dr, San Antonio, TX 78239. My initial complaint was the tax prep fees of $1, 630. I took my return to a different tax company to ask if the fees were inline with what they might charge. After they looked at my return they discovered on line 12 of the tax return I had a loss of $11, 266 self employment. I didn't have self employment, I only had w-2 income. I checked with two other friends who also filed their taxes there and they also had Sch C losses of around $11, 000 on their returns as well and only had w-2income.
The new tax preparer explained that it zeroed out our tax liability and made all non refundable tax credits refundable.

I am terrified I am receiving more of a refund than I am entitled and I don't know what to do. I am afraid they have all of my personal information and SSN and how they might retaliate against me.

On the paper work given to me, my preparer is Phylisha Estrada and her ptin is P02010902.

Is it typical for a tax payer to have a Sch c loss when you only work under a W-2?

They have had my refund since last year according to IRS. And I only figured this out after I went to a tax preparer and asked what I did wrong. When I emailed Santa Barbara Tax Group they keep saying they never received my return and to contact the IRS. How does a professional company get away with this? And how does one get it resolved?

Speaking with so many incompetent reps have been a total nightmare. This bank has been holding on to my refund for two weeks & refuse to expedite the funds being sent back to the irs! i have expressed the financial hardship that my family & i having because we really need this money. They could careless! reps refuse to give manager's last names/initials. When asked to speak with a supervisor i was transferred to voicemails. Spoke with a supervisor name alex who was extremely rude & non empathetic. I get told different stories every time i call about my refund! i've had an anxiety attack & emotional breakdown because of this! no one can help or expedite my refund to be sent to the irs faster due to the nature of my financial hardship!

Your company deposited my refund into the wrong account and new about the mistake the very next day. I was given the run around for days and then got a call form a supervisor from your company that they could have recalled the transfer with in 5 business days, well guess what? I have a letter from your company that you specifically knew of the mistake and did nothing.
I want my refund sent out to me immediately.

I called my bank today and the refund depositing into my account is incorrect. Turbo tax takes out it fees before they print the amount you are to get back on your Schedule NR. Mine states$ 572.00 and Santa Barbara bank deposited 390.04 into my bank account. The difference is $181.96 that is still due back to me. Turbo tax received $141.97 which was taken off of the dollar amount before they print out your tax forms.

I have talked to Turbo Tax and I was told it is not their error and to contact the bank accounting department. Who do I talk to about this accounting error?

Thank you.
Diane V. Roder
[protected]@yahoo.com

When I look on the website it shows that my fees have been taken out of my tax refund! When I call the ‭[protected]‬ number it says never received. I'm confused based on the fact that my refund is to be deposited in my account on the 22nd of February or before then please inform me of this error thank you! You can also contact me at [protected]@yahoo.com

They held up my refund for no reason other than to use my money to serve they own purposes. this place is a total ripoff. They should be investigated for fraud, they should be shut down. they did not even contact me. their phone numbers are useless. they abuse you. they do not return calls. this is a sham. extreemly bad company ro do business with. stay way.

My refund was sent through this place because of a mistake I made on turbo tax. Well they said they sent a cashier check out on Feb 25th. It is now st. Patrick's day with NO knowledge on where my money is. No check, bank account empty and no one to talk to ! I just wanna know when I can get MY MONEY ! It would be nice to an email on how long it's supposed to take or something instead of me thinking I will never get it.

I will say that my account was put on hold for a good reason but that's the only good thing I can say. Though I never received any kind of information saying my account was on hold. After days of calling the irs and my bank I found out that my money was at sbtpg. After their automated system hung up on me three times I finally got to spend to a "expert". It took three more calls to these "experts " before any of them could actually help me. They told me that I had to email a copy of my Id to to verify my identity aND that I would receive a email within seven business days after they verified it. THEY NEVER CONTACTED ME AGAIN. THIS IS SOME OF THE WORST CUSTOMERS SERVICE I'VE EVER SEEN.

I first submitted my taxes to the irs through a second party on line tax program. I opted for the more expensive route and paid for the 59.00 program. I also knew at that time there would be a 39.00 processing fee. One week after the irs accepting my taxes, I got a email from the Santa Barbara tax group saying that there was suspicious activity on my account. They asked me to upload my dl front and back. I did this from my computer at work. So... fast forward three weeks later... no email saying that there was any issues, nothing. The irs released my tax return on the 19th. I did some research and phone calls to find out that the Santa Barbara tax group decided I didn't send it in... I did and have proof at least from my computer. So I resent then called repeated times alas still no tax return. I have now uploaded my dr license 4 times and it's the end of the first week in may. I have even asked them to just return it to the irs. They are frustrating. I have received conflicting ways to upload and they keep trying to blame it on me.

I was told by SBTPG my account had suspicious activity, therefore, I had to provide a copy of my id. I did so on Feb. 27, 2017 and it was accepted. On Feb. 28, 2017, SBTPG sent me an email and ask that I resend the id, as it was not accepted. I did so and it said it was accepted again. I then called SBTPG to make sure that the id was accepted and they said yes, but it would be seven days before I received an email, if the id was verified and ok. I was told overtime that my id was not accepted, that the seven days started over. This is complete nonsense.

The IRS stated that my check was direct deposited on Feb 23, 2017 and if I did not get the direct deposit by Feb. 28, 2017 to call my bank.

I have contacted my bank for the last week and they have no trace of my 2017 Federal Tax refund.

I have contacted SBTPG everyday and gotten long waits on hold and a lot of hang ups. I have been told so many lies and every CSR told me I would have to wait the seven days to see what happens. If it was not approved in seven days, I would have to provide another source of id, which in turn, would be another seven days of waiting.

I provided Turbo Tax, as well as the IRS these documents. Why does SBTPG need them?

There is no need to hold onto my refund, as I have contacted my bank and Turbo Tax and they both have stated that there was no suspicious activity whatsoever on my account. Turbo Tax stated everything went through, that it is the third party, which is SBTPG holding my refund. The refund is not large and I owe no debt, but yet SBTPG is holding my money.

I have read so many bad comments about SBTPG, that I cannot understand why they are still in business and therefore, being a third party for all the tax pros.

If I do not receive my refund in a couple of days, I will seek an attorney to file the necessary paperwork to get my money.

I will not use Turbo Tax again, nor will I ever have fees deducted from my return. I have learned my lesson. I hope everyone else has too!

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group are holding my federal income taxes. They have no live operators. Internet site is a fraud claiming I have to upload my drivers licence, but not accepting it when I do upload it. They are holding my federal returns for no reason and have had them since 2/7/2017 .
They keep running me around in circles back to their website who keeps telling me that my taxes are on hold. They don't answer the telephone, they refuse to do anything. I have tried to upload my information that they requested but their website refuses it. They are a fraud. They have also done this to thousands of other people.

I have used sbptg for the last couple yrs as my 3rd party bank when filing my tax refund.. This yr is the worst by far! There is no number that you can call to speak to a live representative! If you are handling a large amount of someone else's money you have to have live reps available! This was a change they made this year (2017) ! They by far have the worst customer service ever this year! I will not be using them again! Ever!