While some indicators point towards an economy on the mend (including steady inflation rates and strong Black Friday sales), it’s clear that many Americans are still financially strapped. This has been particularly evident over the past few weeks as my email inbox has been chock full of questions about whether H&R Block will be offering their traditional Christmas loans in 2011.
Increasing pressure from the feds has limited the ability of many companies to offer advance loans, including those refund anticipation loans (RALs) from H&R Block. RALs (and similar lending products) are essentially loans secured by the promise of a tax refund. In the case of the Christmas loans, H&R Block offered loans in November and December which would be paid by the borrower in installments as agreed or by having the borrower sign over a portion of his or her tax refund. A typical Christmas loan in years past, based on anecdotal evidence provided by my reader, seemed to be about $900. The loans were generally used to buy Christmas gifts and were paid back in early January or February (when forms W-2 and 1099 were issued). After the loan was paid from the taxpayer’s refund amount together with interest, fees for tax preparation products and tax preparation services were generally subtracted and the balance, if any, was issued to the consumer in some form (check, debit card, direct deposit, etc.). If the taxpayer owed more than his or her refund, he or she would pay the difference.
Beginning this year, the IRS no longer provided tax preparers, banks, and lenders with the “debt indicator” that these lenders use to determine eligibility for RALs. The debt indicator is an electronic acknowledgment to tax preparers advising whether any part of a taxpayer’s refund has been earmarked for offset due to outstanding tax debts or priority obligations such as unpaid child support or delinquent student loans. In previous years, the IRS provided this information, free of charge, to third party preparers, who then made the decision to offer a variety of loan products depending on the answer.
With increased defaults on these loans, pressure to reduce interest and fees for the loans, and a lack of a free debt indicator, many of the traditional loan products have been scaled back. H&R Block no longer advertises a “Christmas loan” (at least not in my area of the country) but rather touts its Emerald suite of products. This includes the Emerald Advance Line of Credit which is a year-round line of credit of up to $1,000 which can be repaid with a portion of your tax refund. The loans appeal to holiday shoppers with the promise of quick cash at the end of the year. However, Block is clearly tying the loans to tax refunds by stating the line of credit must be paid down in full by February 15 of each year.
The loan is subject to credit and underwriting approval. As a result, I have heard that the acceptance rate for the loans is much lower than in years past.
If you follow the blog, you’ll recognize that I’m not a fan of these loans. I’ve heard all of the reasons why folks want/need them and I get it. I still find them to be largely abusive. I think they unfairly target the poor and I think that those who offer the loans often skew the benefits of the loans while failing to mention a few money-saving alternatives.
If you’re considering applying for a “Christmas loan”, RAL or other loan secured by a tax refund, I would urge you to think about these strategies:
1. Adjust your withholding. If you’re getting a big refund at the end of the year, that means (in most cases) that you’re having too much money withheld from your paycheck. It’s your money. You’d do better to take a little bit out as you go through adjusting your withholding than waiting for a lump sum at the end (after all, the IRS isn’t going to pay you interest for keeping your money all year). I know this is one of those things that sounds complicated but it’s not. You can ask your tax pro for recommendations or if you’re not sure where to start, grab a copy of your last tax return and your most recent pay stub and head over to the IRS withholding calculator. You’ll make any changes on a federal form W-4 (downloads as a pdf). In most cases, if the change is for the current year, your employer must put your new form W-4 into effect no later than the start of the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day after the day you turn in the form. However, since it’s already so late in 2011, the change will not affect your 2011 tax year, just your 2012 tax year.
A quick note: If you rely on the EITC for the lion’s share of your refund and you have, in prior years, elected to receive advanced EITC (sometimes called AEITC or AEIC), you may longer do that. The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 signed into law repealed the Advance EITC; this means that for 2011, workers cannot receive Advance EITC in their paychecks.
2. Research loans which are not tied to tax refunds. You may not be in a position to get another loan – but there’s no harm in looking, right? It may be that you would qualify for a short term loan that you could pay back with your tax refund without shelling out extra money for tax prep through a consumer preparer with an incentive to sell you a loan. The IRS offers free tax prep services for more than half of taxpayers. If you e-file and rely on direct deposit (or, if you don’t have a bank account, you might qualify for one of the new debit cards from IRS), you can get your refund back in as few as 8 days after filing – with no fees or interest! You can then use that money to repay your loan. In most cases, you should come out ahead.
3. Open a savings account. One of the excuses that I often hear from taxpayers about waiting for a big refund check in January or February rather than taking it out by lowering withholding (see #1 above) is that a refund check acts like a forced savings account. Why not open an actual savings account then? With increased competition from banks and credit unions, it’s even easier to open a savings account than before with lower (or zero) fees and no minimum balances available. And, with direct deposit, you could route funds directly to your savings account – if it’s not in your hands, you won’t be as tempted to take it. Figuring the amount to save is simple. Look at your last few refund checks. Take the average (let’s say $1500 for our example) and divide it by the frequency of your pay (if you’re paid weekly, that would be 52). In our example, that works out to $28.85 per week. Bonus? You’ll earn interest (the IRS won’t give you away) instead of paying it.
4. Don’t cheat yourself out of deductions and credits. In the rush to get a refund back quickly, many taxpayers rush through their returns or rely on schlocky tax preparers. There are many options for finding free tax prep services, many of which have been trained or approved by the IRS. You shouldn’t underestimate the value in regularly utilizing the services of a tax professional – knowing about your individual circumstances makes it easier to make recommendations and find deductions and credits that you might be missing.
5. Spend less. I know that sounds patronizing and hokey. And if you’re like my kids, you’re rolling your eyes. This year, I’ve watched both my dad and my father-in-law fight serious health problems. A dear friend lost his mother and another, her father. Life is short. And in my line of work, I’ve seen money problems destroy marriages and families, crush dreams and take a toll on personal sanity. In the end, it’s not about the presents. It’s about appreciating what you have. And yes, we’d all like one more pair of shoes or another game for the DS. But if that doesn’t happen, life goes on.
I’m not going to tell you not to use a RAL. You know what is most appropriate in your own circumstances. But I will say this: if you’re going to make the decision to use a RAL, make it for the right reasons – not because you think that it’s your only choice or because you feel too intimidated to ask questions. You owe it to yourself to know what your options are before you act.