{"id":1731,"date":"2011-01-31T11:46:47","date_gmt":"2011-01-31T11:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/?p=1731"},"modified":"2018-11-28T08:43:14","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T08:43:14","slug":"refund-anticipation-loans-and-the-earned-income-tax-credit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/refund-anticipation-loans-and-the-earned-income-tax-credit\/","title":{"rendered":"Refund Anticipation Loans and the Earned Income Tax Credit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Not so fast…..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

H&R Block a usurious moneylender?\u00a0 That’s not the standard image for H&R Block or other major tax preparation agencies.\u00a0 However, part of their business does in fact involve making loans<\/a> at what works out to be a rather high interest rate.<\/p>\n

Tax preparation agencies frequently make \u201cRefund Anticipation Loans\u201d or \u201cRefund Anticipation Checks\u201d to clients who use their services to file their taxes.\u00a0 Generally in connection with lower income clients.\u00a0 In a sense, these loans are comparable to payday loans.\u00a0 You expect to receive a check, in this case a refund check.\u00a0 But you want to have the cash now.\u00a0 So they write you a check today in exchange for the money you would receive down the road.\u00a0 And they get to keep a piece of it.<\/p>\n

The problem is, much like with payday loan companies, that the piece they keep works out to a rather high interest rate if you do the math.\u00a0 This is often done in connection with lower income clients who don’t have bank accounts of their own.<\/p>\n

And the irony in the situation is that the lower income tax clients are simply trying to receive their Earned Income Tax Credit, which is one of the ways the government actually provides income to people who need it because they don’t earn enough to live on.\u00a0 In other words, even though the government is giving money to people in need, those people end up having to pay a fee to the tax preparation agencies in order to receive that money.<\/p>\n

Also, people are often confused in thinking that the check they receive from H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, et al. is in fact the refund check.\u00a0 However, that is not at all the case.\u00a0 They check received is actually a loan from the tax preparation agency.\u00a0 The real refund check (which is a higher amount than what the tax client receives) then goes to the tax preparation agency.<\/p>\n

If you have questions about taxes and debt or bankruptcy, please feel free to contact<\/a><\/strong> Bruce Weiner<\/strong>, an experienced bankruptcy trustee<\/a> in Brooklyn, for a free initial consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H&R Block a usurious moneylender?\u00a0 That’s not the standard image for H&R Block or other major tax preparation agencies.\u00a0 However, part of their business does in fact involve making loans at what works out to be a rather high interest rate. Tax preparation agencies frequently make \u201cRefund Anticipation Loans\u201d or \u201cRefund Anticipation Checks\u201d to clients …<\/p>\n

Refund Anticipation Loans and the Earned Income Tax Credit<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[16,7,27],"tags":[2,21,54,51,52,28,163],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRefund Anticipation Loans and the Earned Income Tax Credit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"H&R Block a usurious moneylender?\u00a0 That's not the standard 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