Warning: H&R Block 2009 Tax Rapid Refund Anticipation loan complaints

Thanks for the info. My son and his wife did the RAL and it ws pushed back also.to 8-15 days, as alot of peoples were. They needed it quick to pay rent and bills, after the ice storm and short hours.

My daughter-in-law said she didn't remember reading anything about the delay in the paperwork she signed, but I am sure it must have been there in the fine print.

Why do people use this place?? Taxes especially the basic ones are easy, particularly if you use online tax software like turbotax or taxcut. I got my state back in 4 days and my federal in 10. Total cost was $9.95

Because my son and his wife are smarter than I am, and don't listen

that's weird.i got mine like normal 1-2 days.i also have there EMERALD card and had it put in there,so that probably did make a difference.

Our neighbors up the street have a family accountant they pay $250 per year...he does 3 sets of taxes. Last year after they forked out the money and bitched about it (again) I told them to sit down and do it online. The online program actually got them more money and they figured out how easy it was...and these people were not exactly at the front of line when brains were handed out if you get my drift.

I don't know what kind of a card they have, but they have some kind of card,too.

SOAPLADY, I agree. I useto use an account (and my taxes were always simple) Till I figured out I can do it online for much less and get more of a refund.

I don't recomend it to everyone though.. each indivdual is different, as are their circumstances.

I also do mine online with TaxAct. Federal is free and takes 10 business days to get your refund.

I use my states own electronic filing and it takes 7 business days to get the refund.

Very easy.

My eighteen year old daughter is a first time filer this year and I had her do it using TaxAct and she did the whole thing herself with minimal instruction from me.

For most people with a simple form it is very easy and the free tax software does all the calculations for you.

Thanks for the warning. I always thought that RAL's smelled just like a PDL--big fees and having to pay it off in the shortterm. Much, MUCH better to do it yourself online.

I think people with decent reliabiltuy did get the rapid refund--if others had a dishonest history or lies in their past that was the proiblem I have in these two motnhs processed many many hr block cards for people they processed and TRUSTED!!!!!!! nothing is pushed back unless collections or child support is a hit? yes or no Boss?

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A person's tax return can state that they are getting a refund, but if the person has the following, the IRS can legally grab the refund:

Back taxes (fed or state) due
Child Support
Deliquent Student Loan
ANY government debt

In a way, I can see why H&R is checking credit, as a person could apply for and get a loan--and not tell them that they have any of these debts. But at any rate, the fees are still thru the roof.

I don't have any issue with them checking credit but they should disclose that to the customer and tell them that if they are denied that the fee is the same.

I think many customers may not have taken the chance and just filed themselves since the wait time is the same.

Being a tax accountant...I always shudder when I hear stories of people paying these ridiculous amounts for an "RAL."

Here's the scoop...MOST people - meaning those who just have a w-2...maybe some student loan interest, and yes, even a mortgage...can file on-line themselves! Much of the software programs walk you thru it, asking questions that will determine the next set of questions (if necessary). Personally, I like Turbotax...TaxAct is okay, but sometimes it can be tricky to navigate...MOST software companies will let you e-file the federal for free.

IF YOU FILE YOUR FEDERAL RETURN BY 11:00 AM ON THURSDAY, and it's accepted by the IRS (meaning no errors), then if you selected direct deposit for your refund, then you will get your refund by the FOLLOWING FRIDAY!! States are usually quicker...and free too, if you go to the states website and file thru them.

IMHO - I wouldn't pay the fees for the RAL if you can wait until the next Friday.

Happy Taxing! j/k

WOW!! The $300.00 is ALOT of money for a Rapid Refund. I've been doing the Rapid Refund since it 'came out' with HRBlock. My fees were NEVER that high. I'm not saying someone ELSE'S fees aren't that high, but, there obviously has to be a reason..ya know?

I can only assume it is because their filing is more complicated like extra forms for EIC, retirement, mortgage interest, mulitple W-2s or 1099s etc.

The fee does not upset me. It is high BUT If the customer is willing to pay it to get their money faster then that is their call but they are not getting the money early and they not being warned ahead of time that that could happen.

The fee to get their taxes done/filed are one thing but there are extra fees for the RAL.

This is exactly why I have not done a single one of these Bank products in over 15 years - they just cost too much and when the bank says "no" I'm the one who looks like the fool.

To straighten out the misunderstandings, the bank fee is automatically adjusted to what the taxpayer actually gets.

Let's say the bank offers the following:
Instant Refund in ten minutes - fee $200
Refund Anticipation Loan in 2 days - fee $150
Preparer's Fee deducted from refund when IRS pays Refund - fee $50

The taxpayer signs up for the Instant Refund but the bank declines and gives the Preparers Fee deduction when the IRS pays the refund. The taxpayer will not be changed the $200. The taxpayer will be charged the $50. Th4e preparer still looks like an idiot to the taxpayer even though there is nothing the preparer could do about it.

I know YEARS ago when we went in and had our taxes done we did the RAL a couple times. We had HUGE refunds then and the last one cost us $265. But again that was years ago, then the fees were based on how big of a refund you were getting.

But also I remember a few years back there was a class action lawsuit against the RAL. I forgot for what, but it ended up we overpaid in fees and we got a check from the lawsuit.

Don't pay those fees, I did my daughters taxes and she got her state in less than a week and her federal is expected sometime this week.

they did the same to me,I was denied the rapid refund due to credit check and I am stii waiting for me refund s of 12 days ago. HR BLOCK are the biggest theives and everyone should report them to the Better Buisness Bureau.

Well.......I have a friend who prepares taxes. According to her, you can get your Refund in 1-2 days OR 8-10 days. She told me she DOES do Credit Checks, for Rapid Refunds. If someone has on their credit that they are behind in Child Support, behind in IRS payments, defaulted Student Loans, etc. they will not qualify for a Rapid Refund.

Then H&R block, or any tax preparer for that matter, should tell the customer that before they pay the fees for the Rapid Refund.

You are SOOOO right..they should. However....as I've been reading the posts on this thread, I'm STILL very 'AWWED' why people are paying so much in fees??!! the last 2 years, that I have gotten a Rapid Refund, I haven't paid more than $150.00 ( give or take) in fees.....and THAT amount included the Tax Preparation.

Did you return include any extra forms for interest, EIC, retirement etc?

I'm sure that the reason they do the credit check is because if you have any of those things (back child support, student loan, back taxes, etc), you're not getting a refund--and this just protects them, which is understandable.

They are also turned down if their return includes a EIC or the rebate recovery.

I am not against them doing the check, as I had said before, but they need to tell the customer they are doing it AND that there is a possiblity they can be turned down AND if that happens the RAL fee is not refunded.

These people who say their " RAL fees" were $300 are too stupid to realize that $250 of their fees are actually for TAX PREPARATION, which they must pay, whether they get the RAL or not. If the RAL (Loan) is denied, yes, they still have to pay the $250 plus the $29,95 bank fee for having fees withheld. Loan fees are NOT charged if the client does not get a loan.

Perhaps if these people BOTHERED to READ the forms before they signed, them, maybe they would understand that TAX PREPARATION isn't FREE.

Don't blame the tax prep company if you are a moron and spend your refund before you receive it. It isn't their fault if you are being evicted or whatever your financial problem is. You should realize that if you are in dire financial straits, the lending bank has ways of finding out, and they don't want to loan you money!

I don't think these people are stupid or morons. Many of them had no problem paying the fees last year and getting the RAL.

The problem seems to have come up this year which means something had to have changed and they were not made aware of it. If they had I am certain they would have done their own taxes.

I think the ONLY reason they were willing to pay the outrageous fees is to get their money in 1 to 2 days and that is not happening this year. Many were long time customers with out bad credit but they had EIC or a recovery rebate so the banks are denying them for that reason.

This is a board to help people get out or debt. Calling them stupid or morons is not how we work around here.

Look, I agree, RAL loans are a very bad idea. What I am trying to point out is that people do not understand the breakdown of the fees they are paying.

Someone earlier in this thread seemed to think that the loan fees were $150 and the tax prep was $50. That is completely incorrect. The tax prep fees are completely separate from loan fees, and are charged based on the complexity of the tax return, NOT the size of the refund, and have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the client chooses to get a LOAN secured by their tax refund.

If these people can't review the truth-in-lending documentation they are given PRIOR to signing them, why would you think they could correctly prepare their own taxes?

Perhaps the people here are an exception, but reading that everyone is blaming the messenger(the tax prep company) for their loan denials indicates to me that they do not understand how credit functions.

People only hear half of what you tell them, and they only retain about 1/4 of it. Usually the 1/4 which makes it look like everything that happens to them is someone else's fault.

A refund loan is a service that is offered, which, believe it or not, is completely independent of tax preparation. There are hundreds of thousands, even millions of people who pay to have their taxes done every year and have the IRS direct deposit their refunds into a checking account, or who have the IRS send them a check.

Of course to do this, one must pay the tax prep fees prior to filing, which would require the customer to pay attention to what the fees actually are.

Don't blame the tax prep company if you don't educate yourself about what you are actually doing when you go in there. Seriously, I don't know what could be done to explain it any more clearly. You will have to believe me when I tell you that people just don't care.

These are mainly the people receiving $5000 refunds because they receive a huge earned income credit. So they don't care if the fees are $300, because it's all the government's money anyway.

I used to try to talk people OUT of refund loans. After a few years I realized it was pointless, and in fact if people want to waste theirs, or the government's money on something like that, it is certainly their right, as Americans, to do so.

And I still think anyone who spends their money and doesn't bother to figure out what they are spending it on, IS a moron.

I agree with you that the RALs are bad and I agree with you that in most cases the consumer does not read the fine print but just because someone is uneducated about finances does not make them a moron.

Now if you educate them. Give them all the information out there and they still do it then maybe you might have a case of stupidity but just yelling out moron at people because they don't know is wrong.

I am sure there are subjects you know nothing about. Does that give others a right to call you a moron?

Ok, so maybe I came on a little strong, throwing out the word "moron" in my first post here. It's been a long six weeks, and I deal with these people every day, calling and yelling at me because their loans are denied and they think it's somehow my fault, and I should refund their tax preparation fees.

There really isn't anything else I can do to explain it to them any more than I already do, and it just doesn't sink in. Hence the "morons" comment.

I don't understand how many more times I can say the word LOAN and still have people who don't understand the fact that a RAL is a LOAN. The paperwork has the word LOAN in four inch high colored letters on it.

well watch the tone sandra.nobody appreciates the attitude.

I go to H&R Block and was told by the accountant that they do a credit check to get the loan, but even people with horrible credit were approved...that night I found out I was denied....got the report and it said nothing about bad credit...it was due to some lines on my return and the amount of my refund....what BS!!! Of course was extremely upset to find out not only was it now going to take 10-14 days but that I was not getting the money back. It has been 13 days now and still nothing....

Unless you have a real complicated tax situation there is no reason to use Block,Jackson,Liberty,etc.

I took my tax paperwork to them to be filed as I have for over a decade. Was told that I would receive my money (through a RAL) in cheque from to be picked up on Monday Feb 9th. Came in on the 9th, and was told that I should check back on the 10th. Checked back on the 10th and was told that the RAL was denied, no explanation, and would have to wait till the 20th. Checked with the IRS web site & it showed that my money had in fact been deposited on the 20th, so I called H&R Block. They stated that I would have to wait till the 21st, that it may take 24 hrs for it to show up. Called on the 21st and was told no cheque, will be in on the 23rd for sure. Well the 23rd I was told to check back on the 24th, 24th told the 25th. Today I called and was told that no cheques were in yesterday or today, and would be Friday the 27th. Still only getting "well I don't know", and call this # (automated line that I sat on hold for 20min), and "Well there is nothing I can do", etc...

They don't hold your money hostage. When the IRS releases the funds, which is ONLY on Fridays, the bank which withhholds your fees then sends it to your bank for direct deposit if that is what you have chosen. Your bank may take up to two MORE days to put the money into your account. There is nothing your tax preparer can do to control this.

If you want the money faster, pay your own fees and have it direct deposited to your own account, thereby only going through one bank instead of two.

If your return had Recovery Rebate Credit on it, it will probably take an extra week. Again, not your preparer's fault.

But did the preparer explain to the customer that it might happen?

That is my biggest complaint and has been from the start.

I PAYED A LITTLE OVER 500.00 TO HAVE MY TAXES DONE BECAUSE I WAS TOLD OF THE EXTRA FORMS THAT HAD TO BE DONE,, THEY TOLD ME THAT WITHEN 7-15 DAYS I WOULD HAVE IT DEPOSITED... GUESS WHAT..FILED 2/10/09.. ITS NOW 2/26/09 AND NOTHING,, CALLED AND THEY TOLD ME NO PROBLEM WITH THE IRS, EVERYTHING WAS OK AND DO TO BE RELEASED ON 3/3/09..LAST TIME I CHECKED THAT WAS 3 WEEKS..... NOT 1 OR 2?TO TOP EVERYTHING OFF, WHEN I TALKED TO H&R BLOCK ABOUT WHY IT'S TAKING SO LONG THE WOMEN ON THE PHONE WANTED TO KNOW WHY IT COST ME THAT MUCH TO FILE,, AND THAT SHE WOULD HAVE DONE SO MANY THING'S DIFFERENT THAT WOULD HAVE SAVED ME ALOT OF MONEY..TALK ABOUT BEATING YOU AFTER YOUR ALREADY DOWN!

they probably meant 7-15 business days, which means in your case between 2/19 and 3/3.

Well my husband and I went through Jackson Hewitt and we were denied a ral this year. We have been going there for the last 5 years and never had a problem until this year. We call the debt set off and both of us have no record of depts. We don't owe child support so what else could be going on this year. The only reason we tried for the ral is because we really needed the money.

did your Jackson Hewitt rep tell you why you were denied?

My ex filed with H&R Block. He's a truck driver, so is gone for a few weeks at a time. Every time he came home, no check! He was told to get a copy of his credit report and check it out, as there was something on there holding him back from getting his check. He did finally get it 2 months after he filed!! Still no clue as to why they held his check for so long

Just a quick correction to the initial post.

Whenever a 1-2 RAL is denied and converted to the 1-2 week RAC, clients only pay the lesser cost of the RAC, not the higher cost of the RAL. Interest is not charged on the RAC, so fees decline and the difference is included in the refund.

I agree with her I have never had a problem with H&R Block and the refund Anticipation loan. When I receive during the holidays I get 800 to 1000 dollars and only have to pay 50.00 because I keep my emerald card open year round. If I were to go to a bank and get a loan for 1000.00 I would be paying much more then 50.00 for loan

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I still don't understand the allure of RALs. OK, so you need your money sooner than the 6 weeks or so It takes IRS to accept a paper return and mail a paper check. Is it worth paying scam-level fees to get it sooner?

Try this next year. Do your taxes online with an IRS-approved site. File electronically. Have your refund direct-deposited. And file as early as possible. I file in early February every year. Last year, I had my state refund back in 2 days, and my federal refund in 6 days. My cost? $19.95 for preparation and e-filing.

and if you qualify because of your income, you can do your federal income tax for free. I do that for my daughter's return. Just go to irs website and they list the on-line preparers to use.

From personal experience, I can heartily recommend TorboTax online. Good stuff, cheap.

my mother n law is a accountant and she does ours online through turbo tax. she told me that i could do it, that its so easy. but i would just rather her do it! but my days of h&r block were over about 3 years ago. my usual refund was around 1500.00 till i paid my bill to them it was just over 1,000 and my mother n law always gets me around 3,000. i will never use them again.

there was a class action law suit not to long ago that i participated in, got my huge chunk of 3.00. not to long ago. and as for paying the rapid refund i am way too cheap. look at it this way you have gone that long without it you cant wait a few more weeks? mine is usually deposited in my checking in about 2 weeks. i would never pay that kind of money to get it in a few days.

Hi. I know that there are good and bad of every situation and HR BLock has thier own bank so they probbaly are at higher risk. This service does not check credit and also gets the rapid returns quickly for their clients.

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Here are some good reasons why people do this and don't just do it themselves:

Govt isn;t always going to be 10-14 days - I would question it this year for sure

Statistics show 12% of all returns have some sort of error and are adjusted downward so thus the immediate return guarantees them their money quickly

Some divorced clientele have to ensure they get their rights ensured adn are first in in order to not have a big fight on thier hands

Some poeple especailly these days need to pay thier rent as the one post mentioned or pay bills and can not wait.

Again every situation is different. However, not disclosing the credit pull I believe is not only unethical but illegal. It is probably in the small print.