Due to an audit, my state tax authority submitted an " order to withhold '' to my bank. Not the most fun thing to happen, but perfectly reasonable. Part of the order was a {$100.00} fee. The shocker came when I contacted the state tax authority and discovered that the fee had nothing to do with them - they do n't attach fees to " orders to withhold ; '' imagine that - the fee was being charged by the bank. My state tax authority agreed to reduce the amount of the order - really, they were more than courteous and reasonable - but could do nothing about the fee. Ultimately the fee turned out to be more than the order. The bank released the remainder of the order back to me, but kept the fee. 

I 'd really like an explanation of why a {$100.00} fee ( that in my case was more than the legal order from the state tax authority ) is reasonable and appropriate. What costs does the bank incur that are covered by that fee? Do they have some employee somewhere that gets paid {$100.00} for the XXXX minutes it takes to review the order manually and push some buttons? Is there a human being involved at all? 

Like many other types of fees, this XXXX is far more injurious to someone with a low bank balance than someone with a high XXXX. Someone with a balance over XXXX figures would barely notice a {$100.00} fee. On the other hand, someone with a balance over XXXX figures would barely have noticed the amount of the legal order issued by my state. I have never had a balance like that, so a fee of {$100.00} literally means that I have to scramble to make sure not to overdraw the account. ( Which would result in a different set of fees. ) These fees are practically calculated to suck the life out of people that have very little money on which to survive. 

I understand that the bank is providing a service, and that they exist to make a profit through their services. I do n't begrudge them fees in general, but ca n't they charge fees based on the average balance? In any case, a fee of {$100.00} seems excessively high. 

The other, less annoying, problem : according to the state, the bank should hold the affected funds for 10-15 days. My bank DEBITED the funds in less than XXXX. Really? They needed that tiny amount of cash right away? 
