People Around the Country Are Confused by Strange Deposits in Their Bank Account

It's not common for someone or something unexpected to just give you money, but that's what thousands of people are experiencing as they discover a deposit in their bank accounts from an entity they're unfamiliar with. The deposits are coming from TPG Products SBTPG LLC, and some of them are several thousand dollars.

Following the arrival of these deposits, many wanted to know why they were receiving this cash from an unknown entity. Here's what we know.

The simplest explanation is that these deposits are related to your tax refund. TPG Products SBTPG LLC processes tax refunds for taxpayers who select the option to have their tax filing service deduct the cost of preparing the refund from the refund itself.

If you used TurboTax, TaxSlayer, or H&R Block, and selected the option that allows you to pay for your return out of your refund, then you'll get your refund through TPG Products SBTPG LLC.

The reason you're not getting your refund directly from the IRS is that the IRS first sends the refund to Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (SBTPG), which first deducts any necessary fees before issuing the final refund.

Basically, the IRS sends your refund to a designated middleman, and then that middleman deducts some amount of money from the refund before issuing it.

Handling your refund this way can feel super convenient since it doesn't require you to pay any money in the moment and basically just reduces the amount of money you'll ultimately receive. As a result, though, your refund is now coming from an entity that is not tied to the federal government. While plenty of people are likely cool with that, there are some who might be spooked by the fact that a third entity gets their cash before they do.

While paying for your refund out of your refund might be the most convenient option (and is necessary for people who are financially strapped), it's not the only option available to people who are filing their taxes.

If you pay when you file, then you'll know both how much your refund should be and also exactly how much you're being charged to have it prepared and filed.

Online tax vendors can be super convenient, but they also lure consumers in promising a low-fee option for filing, and then sometimes surprise people at the end of the process with how much their filing actually costs.

Of course, there's no reason that the IRS could not handle at least some simple filings directly, and the government actually moved toward allowing that in recent years. It's unclear whether that program will continue under the Trump administration, however especially since they have seemed more skeptical towards the IRS in general. A refund is a refund, though, and plenty of people are more than happy not to question how exactly it got to them.