Need money fast after filing your taxes but don’t want to wait for Uncle Sam to send you your refund? The IRS passed a new rule Thursday that tax preparers said will drive up the cost for cash-strapped customers who apply for pre-refund loans in lieu of waiting for their refund checks.
The IRS announced it will end a service that provides tax preparers that offer refund anticipation loans (RALs) with a “debt indicator,” information about a taxpayer that helps banks determine the risk of offering them a loan. Set to begin for the 2011 tax filing season, the IRS will no longer provide tax preparers with information about their clients’ federal debt. With the elimination of the service that helps banks and tax preparers assess the risk of the loan, interest rates will have to rise, a spokesman for H&R Block said.
The IRS contends they are ending the service to tax preparers now that more taxpayers file online and receive their tax refunds in a matter of days.
“We no longer see a need for the debt indicator in a world where we can process a tax return and deliver a refund in 10 days,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said.
But for people who cannot wait that long — those with bills that must be immediately paid — tax preparers argue that banks will be forced to raise interest rates for the 8 million people who receive such loans annually, an estimated 40 percent of whom do not have access to bank accounts.
“Restricting the debt indicator does not eliminate the need for refund anticipation loans,” said Alan Bennett, president and CEO of H&R Block, which processes 2.1 million RALs annually. The action, he added, “will likely increase the cost of refund anticipation loans for millions of low- to moderate-income taxpayers.”
Consumer advocacy groups that have long accused companies like H&R Block of taking advantage of poor taxpayers in need of fast cash praised the IRS decision.
“We are pleased that IRS has decided to stop aiding and abetting high cost RALs that siphon off hundreds of millions in taxpayers’ hard-earned money and federal benefits meant to lift the working poor out of poverty,” said Chi Chi Wu, a staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center.
Tax preparers call the criticism outrageous, countering that some people cannot wait 10 days to receive their refund and now they will have to pay more to get their money quickly.
“There is still a market for people who want their refund faster than the IRS can furnish it,” said Kate Fulton, H&R Block senior vice president of government relations. “This is going to have such a negative impact on a community that needs help.”
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GEITHNER ON TAXES