• refund anticipation loans

    H&R Block's Refund Anticipation Loan Card Eats Your Refund

    Poor Sam didn't take our advice. He let H&R Block do his taxes and then took out a refund anticipation loan. The money, which was deposited on an H&R Block Emerald Card, is now tied up by several inexplicable holds for transactions he didn't make. The companies supposedly holding the funds have no clue who Sam is, or why they'd be holding his money. H&R Block's only response is to charge Sam $2 whenever he calls their customer service line for help. More »

    10:25 AM on Sat Mar 28 2009
    By Carey Alexander
    10,912 views, 45 comments

    Most discussed LegoMan322: Doing your taxes at H&R block is no different than eating at a fast food place everyday. Stop being more »

  • taxes

    Stay Away From Tax Refund Anticipation Loans

    I saw a big billboard for Jackson Hewitt showing a broadly smiling woman of indeterminate ethnicity holding a fistful of money that she just got by getting a refund anticipation loan, and it reminded me of how we need to do our annual telling of people to once again stay away from said refund anticipation loans.

    The way they work is that the lender, often in the form of a tax preparer, fronts you the refund you're expected to get. In exchange for getting your refund a few weeks in advance, you pay them interest on the loan that can vary from 40-700%. Not a good bargain, just a tax on the impatient and those bad at math. In fact, H&R Block was once sued for systematically overcharging customers on refund anticipation loans. If you need your refund as speedily as possible, just e-file and get it direct deposited into your bank.

    (Photo: Noah Berger)

    9:00 AM on Fri Jan 18 2008
    By Ben Popken
    1,995 views, 38 comments

    Latest by skeleem_skalarm: When I worked at HRB I tried to steer everyone I knew away from these loans, but few listened. more »

  • refund anticipation loans

    Tax Advance Loans On The Retreat

    The number of refund anticipation loans declined 22.5% last year as consumers took advantage of cheaper and only slightly slower alternatives, NYT reports. More »

    11:47 AM on Fri Mar 30 2007
    By Ben Popken
    1,031 views, 6 comments

  • irs

    Don't Get A Refund Anticipation Loan

    Tax time is coming up and the National Consumers League is busy wildly flapping its arms to try to warn you off applying for a Refund Anticipation Loan this year. More »

    5:56 AM on Thu Apr 6 2006
    By consumerist.com
    268 views, 1 comment

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