Beware Of Tax Refund Loans

[Satisfaction 1]

Yes, you're right. Personnally I do my taxes myself with Turbofax.

Turbofax, eh?

TurboTax, sorry

You can download the sofware from the internet. They charge a fee for e filing but it is reasonable ($30).

Here is the article I was referring to about mortgage "scams" (and trust me, I think that they are many!)

"A Note To Home Buyers (Discussion by Francis Ssennoga )

The lending industry has undergone a huge revolution making it easy to borrow money at rates of 1 percent interest and zero down for down payment to buy or refinance a home (...)

What has caused this generosity?

This is a result of hundreds of thousands of mortgage companies that have sprung up increasing the supply for loans and thus reducing the stringent requirements needed by traditional bankers to give loans. Since most of these are not banks, they are out of the reach of federal regulators that molest bank lending departments (... ) The mortgage companies have released that they can provide the mortgage consumers badly needed cash. The source of loans is from investors who have come to understand that consumers love a decent life in a new house.

Is this an American Dream come true?

This might not be the awaited American dream come true. The mortgage industry has deployed an army of over zealous salesmen who can approve a loan that will consume more than 60 percent of a consumer monthly income."

To read whole article: here is the link http://www.ugandanamerican.com:8080/uganda...3A-351A9986BEC8

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Under-withhold and they stick YOU with a penalty. That always pissed me off.

Yeah, that sucks. Any idea how much you have to underwithhold before they penalize you for it?

I believe it's 90%. Owe $10,000 but withhold $8,999. PENALTY!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

so my husband decided the extra fee was 'worth it'.

That sounds fair.

touché

Because of their stupidity and inflexibility (and apparent inability to return a phone call), I owe over $300 this year. Yay.

Not exactly. You owe because you kept the money throughout the year. Who stopped you from either making quarterly payments in anticipation of the taxes owed on that second income or have additional funds withheld at your primary job?

Edited March 1, 2006 by ET-US2004

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Because of their stupidity and inflexibility (and apparent inability to return a phone call), I owe over $300 this year. Yay.

Not exactly. You owe because you kept the money throughout the year. Who stopped you from either making quarterly payments in anticipation of the taxes owed ...

Damn, I was just reading that the IRS expects you to do that and I was just about to post a link to pax!

Edited March 1, 2006 by Agent Smith

[Saddle Bronc 124]

True enough. RAL's are always managed by a bank, and you get stiffed (for the difference between "plain" consultant-done tax return and RAL fee) if your RAL app is rejected.

The difference: the RAL may come through in less than one week (which was how long it took for "plain" Jackson-Hewitt direct-deposit, no RAL).

[pax 0]

I'm not really bitching about the IRS, but rather the corporate payroll office.

[faith 0]

H&R Block does NOT charge you anything but prep fees (that you would pay to have your taxes done) if you are denied the RAL for any reason. I've used H&R Block for years. I used to do them myself online thru H&R Block, but for some reason the stupid program screwed up and locked up this year so I got ticked and took them into the office and had them done there. Most of the time I go ahead and just wait on the IRS. However, this year, because I was getting so much freakin money back (I paid less than $800 in taxes all year and got it all back and then some because of EIC - giving me a total of $5500 refund) and because we needed to get some stuff done that week (pay off a few bills, buy the stuff we needed to finish the house, etc) we decided to pay the fees to get the RAL. I had some of my money that night and the rest in a day. That was a month ago. The IRS has just now paid H&R Block the refund that was due to me. I would have waited a month for my refund. So is that fee worth it to me? Sure... I'd be a month behind on my getting house ready for baby project, I'd be a month back from paying some bills off, etc. If you can afford to pay the fees, and you understand what you are paying, then why should you be condemned for using the service?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I had some of my money that night and the rest in a day. That was a month ago. The IRS has just now paid H&R Block the refund that was due to me. I would have waited a month for my refund. So is that fee worth it to me? Sure... I'd be a month behind on my getting house ready for baby project, I'd be a month back from paying some bills off, etc. If you can afford to pay the fees, and you understand what you are paying, then why should you be condemned for using the service?

No one is condemning you for using the service. You are obviously an educated consumer and I don't know anyone who will condemn an educated consumer.

The condemnation is being directed at firms that offer this service. It is clearly exploitative and targeted at consumers who feel they absolutely can not wait.

[faith 0]

I had some of my money that night and the rest in a day. That was a month ago. The IRS has just now paid H&R Block the refund that was due to me. I would have waited a month for my refund. So is that fee worth it to me? Sure... I'd be a month behind on my getting house ready for baby project, I'd be a month back from paying some bills off, etc. If you can afford to pay the fees, and you understand what you are paying, then why should you be condemned for using the service?

No one is condemning you for using the service. You are obviously an educated consumer and I don't know anyone who will condemn an educated consumer.

The condemnation is being directed at firms that offer this service. It is clearly exploitative and targeted at consumers who feel they absolutely can not wait.

considering that the general consumer that uses the loans do not read the fine print or understand what they are doing, yes, I can agree with you.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

H&R Block does NOT charge you anything but prep fees (that you would pay to have your taxes done) if you are denied the RAL for any reason. I've used H&R Block for years. I used to do them myself online thru H&R Block, but for some reason the stupid program screwed up and locked up this year so I got ticked and took them into the office and had them done there. Most of the time I go ahead and just wait on the IRS. However, this year, because I was getting so much freakin money back (I paid less than $800 in taxes all year and got it all back and then some because of EIC - giving me a total of $5500 refund) and because we needed to get some stuff done that week (pay off a few bills, buy the stuff we needed to finish the house, etc) we decided to pay the fees to get the RAL. I had some of my money that night and the rest in a day. That was a month ago. The IRS has just now paid H&R Block the refund that was due to me. I would have waited a month for my refund. So is that fee worth it to me? Sure... I'd be a month behind on my getting house ready for baby project, I'd be a month back from paying some bills off, etc. If you can afford to pay the fees, and you understand what you are paying, then why should you be condemned for using the service?

Wouldn't putting stuff on a credit card for a month (to be paid off once the refund gets in) be cheaper?

[faith 0]

we do not use credit cards. We pay cash for everything.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

we do not use credit cards. We pay cash for everything.

Any particular reason? Credit comes in handy from time to time, as long as you're responsible about it.

[flipside 0]

Strange...

I do my own taxes with turbotax, and had a HUGE refund this year because I bought a house last year.

The refund was in my account in 8 days... Who can't wait 8 days??

[faith 0]

My credit sucks, so any interest rate I'm gonna get on credit cards sucks butt. (Divorce and bancrupcy can do that to a person). So I've chosen to stick with other loans to get my rating up (car loans, etc) I had a house with my ex that was paid as agreed before he refinanced in his name only, so we've got some good things going for me.

We are going to establish credit for hubby once he starts his permanent job this month.

Usually, I'm a tightwad... I don't like paying interest on things. With the RAL it was kind of a tradeoff... I didn't pay in that money, most of it was the EIC.. so it was freebie money for me anyway. I would just rather pay cash for the things that we need or want.

[Satisfaction 1]

H&R doesn't take any risk for this type of transaction and is not being charged a cent. It's a shame.

H&R shouldn't even have a right to offer such loans... On Federal tax money, are you kidding me??

That seems unethical to me. Banks borrow to other bank, which is one reason why they charge their customers an APR (typically, banks borrow at a rate averaging 6% depending on the fluctuation of the market and as dictated by the Fed). Also, banks are taking a risk of never being paid back when they borrow money to their customers. For instance, there are only one or two types of checks that banks can post on an account almost immediately (1 day being the maximum): Federal and State checks.

Everyone does what they feel like doing as long as they understand the principles, which often they don't.