Before offering Republic Bank & Trust bank products to your clients, you must complete and submit the ERO Enrollment Application located in your TaxSlayer Account Hub. A new application must be filled out prior to the start of e-file each year. To locate the Republic Bank & Trust ERO Enrollment Application, first log in to your TaxSlayer Pro Account Hub.
Select Bank Product Information from the left side navigation pane and then select BEGIN APPLICATION on the Republic Bank & Trust Tile:
If you applied to offer Republic bank products last year, many of the bank application fields will pull forward and populate last year's information in the current year bank application fields. It is important to review each field in each section of the bank application for accuracy and update any information that has changed.
Step 1 - Bank Info
The Republic Bank Info section stores your personal banking account information (the bank account where your preparation fees will be deposited), your product selection/setup, your enrollment setup information and the Republic Bank Tax Refund Solutions ERO Agreement.
Bank Setup Information - Enter the name that is on the account, select an Account Type, enter your bank account routing number and your bank account number.
Make sure you have verified all of the information in the Bank Setup Information section as this is where Republic bank will deposit your preparation fees.
Product Selection/Setup
Advance Program - In addition to the Refund Transfer option, Republic Bank offers four Easy Advance options that vary in the amount of the loan cost paid by the ERO and the taxpayer. To view details on each of the options, click here to visit Republic Bank's website.
After deciding on which program you want to enroll in, select it from the drop down list:
Refund Transfers Only
Refund Transfers & Easy Advance Office Pay
Refund Transfers and Easy Advance Plus
Refund Transfers & Easy Advance Customer Pay
Refund Transfers and Easy Advance Standard
If you have questions about the Republic Easy Advance program options, please contact them directly at either 888-676-2065 (Sales) or 866-491-1040 (ERO Support).
Enrollment Setup
The Enrollment Setup section is used to enter information about your company.
Ownership Type - Select the option that best describes your business entity.
Website Address - Enter your business website address. If your business does not have a website address, leave this field blank.
Incorporation Date - Enter the date that your business was started.
Years in Business - How many years have you been preparing tax returns professionally?
Bank Products Last Year - How many tax returns containing a bank product did you transmit in the previous year?
Preparers - Enter the number of personnel who will be offering or discussing Republic bank products or who have access to customer information in conjunction with tax preparation services.
Republic Bank Tax Refund Solutions ERO Agreement
Carefully read the Republic Bank Tax Refund Solutions ERO Agreement. When you have read and understand the ERO Agreement, sign the document by entering your full name in the Terms of Agreement Signature field.
After all information has been entered in the Bank Info Section of the application, select Save and Continue at the bottom of the page. If any required fields are blank, you will be prompted to fill in the information before continuing.
Step 2 - Additional Information
The Additional Information section of the bank application stores information about your business and and employees.
Anyone Assessed With Preparer Penalties? Select Yes or No.
Have you been the subject of any fines, corrective actions or official orders related to violations of law or consumer compliance regulations relative to tax preparation or consumer lending?
Do you agree to not use any advertising or marketing of RALs, ERCs or ERDs until the material has been approved by Republic Bank? Yes or No.
This includes but is not limited to radio or television scripts, videos, newspaper or magazine ads, internet websites or advertisements, social media websites, point-of-sale materials, direct mail pieces, emails, newsletters, announcements, PowerPoint presentations and/or training manuals.
What is the structure of your office for the business? Select the option that best describes your office space.
Do you use mobile tax software to prepare taxes? Select Yes or No.
What was the bank used as the Bank Product Provider in prior Tax Season?
Possesses all licenses and certifications required for preparing bank products? Select Yes, No or N/A:
If required by state and/or local laws and regulations, will you possess all licenses and/or certifications for preparing and/or facilitating Bank Products?
If required by your state and/or local laws and regulations, are you currently in compliance with all posting, written, and oral disclosure laws related to tax preparation and/or bank products? Select Yes, No or N/A.
Is your business at least 51% owned and managed by U.S. citizens or legal resident alien who are Asian, Black, Hispanic or Native American? Select Yes or No.
Is your business at least 51% women-owned and managed with the business owners being U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens? Select Yes or No.
Is your business at least 51% owned by one or more service-disabled veterans; and the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans with permanent and severe disability, or the spouse or permanent caregiver of such veteran? Select Yes or No.
Is your business at least 51% owned and managed by U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens who are disabled? Select Yes or No.
Will you require all of your employees, contractors or affiliates who will offer or discuss Bank Products or who have access to customer information in conjunction with Bank Products to take the online training course required by Republic Bank? Select Yes or No.
All of the fields in the Additional Information section of the bank application are required. When you have answered each of the questions in this section, select Save and Continue at the bottom of the screen. If any required fields are blank, you will be prompted to fill in the information before continuing.
Part 3 - Added Fees
The Added Fees section of the bank application allows you to opt-in to two additional fees that will be subtracted from the taxpayer's refund in addition to your preparation fees.
Would you like to add to your transmission fee? By default, TaxSlayer Pro charges a $6 transmission fee and an $18 Technology fee on all bank product returns. If you would like to increase the amount charged for the transmission fee, select Yes and select the dollar amount that you want to add. Read the added fee agreement and sign the document by entering your full name in the Signature Name field.
Document Prep Fee - If you would like to charge a document prep fee on bank product returns, enter the amount of the additional fee. The document prep fee will be taken out of the taxpayer's refund and added to your preparation fee.
Part 4 - Ancillary Products
The Ancillary Products section of the bank application gives you the opportunity to increase your revenue and product offerings to your clients. Visit our website's Product Partnership's page to learn more about each of the available ancillary products.
If you will be offering audit protection or identity protection services to your clients, select Yes in the I want to offer this product field. Read the license agreement, opt-in to receive advertising materials and sign up by entering your full name in the Signature field.
Note - You may only offer one audit product. If you sign up for Protection Plus, you may not also sign up for Audit Maintenance Pro.
Part 5 - EFIN Owner
The EFIN Owner section of the bank application stores general information, contact information, driver's license information and address information about the owner of the office EFIN. This information can be pulled from the Company Information section of Account Hub by clicking the icon next to EFIN Owner:
All fields in this section are required. Verify that all of the information is correct and select Save and Continue at the bottom of the screen.
Part 6 - Principal Owner
The Principal Owner section of the bank application stores general information, contact information, driver's license information and address information about the person with the highest percentage of ownership of the business. If the business owner is also the EFIN owner, this information can be pulled from the EFIN Owner section of the bank application by clicking the icon next to Principal Owner:
If the principal owner of the business is different than the EFIN owner, fill in all fields of this section before selecting Save and Continue and the bottom of the screen.
Part 7 - Office Staff
The Office Staff section of the bank application stores general and contact information for the office manager. If the principal owner is also an office manager, this information can be pulled from the Principal Owner section of the bank application by clicking on the icon next to Office Staff:
All fields are required to be filled before selecting Save and Continue.
Part 8 - W9 Information
The W9 Information section of the bank application stores the information of the individual or business that will be issued Form 1099-MISC for any rebate amount paid by TaxSlayer Pro. This amount is also reported to the IRS and must be included on the individual's or business tax return.
Part 9 - Lock and Submit Application
After you complete sections 1 through 8 of the bank application, click on lock and submit application. You will be prompted to confirm you are ready to submit your application to the bank:
The bank application will remain locked until Republic sends a response. After submitting your bank application, you can check on the status by viewing the Banking Information tile from the main page of Account Hub:
