Why is my return not free? I am a college student with only W-2s. My parents claim me as a dependent and I do not pay for my own tuition.

You are posting from Deluxe  $60

State return $50

Refund processing to have fees deducted from federal refund by 3rd party bank $39.99 ($44.99 in CA) (This fee is optional and can be avoided by paying TT upfront using a credit/debit card)

WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY?  I WANT THE FREE EDITION

The information that you can enter in Free Edition is pretty limited now.  Thanks to the new tax laws that began for 2018 returns, there are no more simple Form 1040EZ or 1040A's.  Everything goes on a Form 1040 that has three extra "schedules" with it, and if you need any of those schedules, you are not able to use the Free Edition.  Using the standard deduction instead of itemizing does NOT mean you will not need any of those schedules.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040 

If you qualify to use it, there is another full-featured free version of the software:

Try Free File: 

You qualify if your income was $36,000 or less, or $69,000 or less if active duty military, or if you qualify for Earned Income Credit

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program

• https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2026912-how-do-i-switch-to-turbotax-free-file-program

If you switch to Free File you must create a new account and new user ID.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4511011-what-happened-to-the-1040a-and-1040ez

Note:  If you do not qualify to use Free File then you will have to upgrade to Deluxe or higher in the paid versions of the software.   

Online Deluxe $60  State software $50

Or—-Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/