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Children's Defense Fund: Tax Refund Loans "Indefensible"

February 22, 2006

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Falling for promises of quick cash, millions of low-income Americans paid more than $900 million in unnecessary fees and excessive interest when they filed their taxes in 2004 to expedite collection of their tax refunds.

An analysis of IRS data by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) found that most Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) customers were low-income taxpayers who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable credit for low-wage earners.

Based on findings in states where CDF has offices, millions of dollars were wasted in order to receive tax refunds more quickly.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer last week sued H&R Block, the largest provider of RAL loans, alleging the tax preparation giant has violated 15 state and federal laws in marketing the high-cost loans.

Low-income workers in Washington, D.C. unnecessarily paid $2.64 million in RAL fees and interest. In other areas of the country, unnecessary expenses were even higher. In Mississippi, RAL fees exceeded $25 million; in South Carolina over $26 million; in Tennessee more than $29.4 million was lost to RALs; in Ohio over $35 million.

Low-income workers in California paid more than $65.7 million in fees and interest; and in Texas over $111 million.

For the 2003 tax year, about seven million workers nationwide purchased the short-term, high-interest loans that commercial tax preparers aggressively market to low-income tax filers in exchange for receiving their tax refunds sooner, usually within a few days. Some RAL providers deliver these high-priced loans on-the-spot.

RALs are repaid from the tax refund, but the fees associated with them end up costing individuals a significant percentage of their refunds.

Meanwhile, tax refunds from the federal government impose no fees or interest charges and if e-filed and deposited into an account are usually paid within two weeks of filing. In reducing the value of the refund taxpayers receive, RALs undermine the very purpose of the EITC, which is to help lift low-income families out of poverty.

"Taking money out of the pockets of working poor families in the form of excessive interest rates and fees paid through RALs is unjust and indefensible," said Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund.

"Now more than ever we need to make certain that working families get back every dollar for which they are eligible to help cover expenses like food, rent, utilities and child care so that they can stay employed and keep their families intact."

Three years ago, CDF launched a nationwide Tax and Benefits Outreach Initiative to ensure children and working families receive tax, income, health insurance and other benefits for which they are eligible.

Last year, working in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service and hundreds of faith and community groups across the country, CDF and coalition partners helped raise awareness and set up free tax preparation services to allow families to claim -- and keep -- more than $105 million in tax refunds.

CDF is again participating in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) free tax preparation program this year with coalition partners, helping low-income families learn about and prepare their taxes free of charge, so they can save or spend their refund -- all of it -- as they see fit.

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