Anyone do the 750$ advance??

[Jesse]

Did anyone do the 750 cash advance from their taxes? We’re you approved or denied? Good or bad experience?

[Itsuhme-notmario]

They are one of the most predatory loans you can get. Anyone who looks at the interest rate of them and can’t see it’s a predatory loan has no business even touching money..
The only time someone should even consider doing it is when all avenues have been exhausted.. they are NOT a loan to get just so you can go eat fancy tonight and buy some minutes for your prepaid phone..

We live in a time of instant gratification..
Want something you don’t have? Order it online and have it delivered today (in certain areas).
Not at home and decide to impulse buy something? Hop on your phone’s app and shop away, and have the stuff tomorrow.

Same for money. Want money today? Take your w2 to a predatory lender and walk out with $500 to $1000…but you’re gonna pay around $300 interest for a month. And if the refund is delayed, that amount will double for 2 months. Triple for 3 months. It’s ridiculous…you’re signing over not just your refund, but your liability if the IRS doesn’t process your refund in a timely manner..
What if you get delayed until October? then the lender can take you to court and show the contract that YOU signed…and will be subject to 25% of your paycheck. You can rack up fees up to $3000 just for getting a loan. (8 months @ $375/month)..

[Theresa]

I had I very bad experience with that this year. It’s a long story but I will try to keep it brief. Unfortunately this year I found myself in a very bad financial situation and needed my tax refund which is usually over $1000 desperately. I called Jackson Hewitt and they were upfront with me and said I didn’t meet their requirements to be approved.

Next I called a tax office across from my office building. She said everyone is approved for the advance of $1000. Perfect, I went in and then the tax preparer tells me not everyone’s approved and they are only approving $500. Like I said, i am in a pretty desperate situation, electric needs to be paid and other bills so I said go ahead and do it. The tax preparer and the one in the next desk seemed confident I would be approved.

Now, I usually do my own taxes which is simple. In fact I did my return in 5 minutes myself before I went there just to be sure they did them correctly. They said there was no charge for the advance but the tax prep fees were $200 which they will take out of my refund. I was told I would receive a text letting me know if I was approved or not within 24 hours.

24 hours later, no text and everyone in that office gave me a different answer when I called. After 48 hours I just went into the office to try to get some answers. When I see my preparer he says “oh I’m glad you stopped by. We didn’t have you sign everything”. So they never filed my taxes and didn’t even bother calling me. The manager came out had me sign and said he would file them right away. When I asked about the advance he said if I don’t receive a text in 24 hours that means I was not approved. That alone seeme sketchy to me. I should get some kind of confirmation that they even received it.

So to sum up, I never received an advance and I am out $200. It’s amazing how a person can be taken advantage of in their time of need. Clearly I would not have tried for the advance if I wasn’t desperate but they had no bones about taking my money and lying to me. As soon as I receive my refund ( I finally got a DDD for the 10th), I am going to make a formal complaint with the IRS. Years ago they got rid of the refund anticipatory loans because they were predatory and unethical but I guess the tax prep industry has found a way around it so they can still take advantage of the tax payer in need of their refund ASAP.

That’s my rant. Thanks for letting me vent .

[Jennifer]

I really didn’t know tax prep companies still offered these loans. Years ago, my ex husband and I would argue over whether or not we should take advantage of those loans each year. He was always for it, I was against. The only pro to this loan is getting YOUR money a little sooner. The con is that you are paying someone a significant amount of money to get YOUR money sooner. I hate that I had to take my fees out of my return with Turbo Tax this year. I literally have to pay Santa Barbara Bank and Trust $35 just to receive my refund, give $117 to Turbo Tax, and deposit the rest in my account. So, several hundred dollars to get $750 a little quicker would be a foolish investment, unless like another poster said the repo man is coming for your car or you are being evicted before your full refund arrives. Even then, you’d be better off paying a friend or family member half the interest for the same loan until you get your refund.

[Itsuhme-notmario]

@rozilyn

I think most of the people these predatory loans target are younger people with kids.
It’s sickening, but it doesn’t matter the company ..every one of them from HRBlock to the local pawn shop will offer this crap. I have a friend, she’s doing tax prep for a couple years now, and she said she refused to do it because of the predatory nature…
And the fee they charge to process it (since the individual tax prep doesn’t have a hand in that particular fee…it’s $35 per loan from the prep fee the individual charges, plus if the loan doesn’t go through, the tax preparer has to pay that entire loan back..
She has around 1500-2000 clients, and she said her clients understood and were OK with not doing loans.

I’d say unless they are coming to get your car today, or you’re getting evicted tomorrow morning…don’t take out this kind of loan.
I remember that feeling of “oh, we’re getting back $7,000..what’s $700 plus $395 in interest to get it a little quicker?”…
but, when the money is all gone, and you start looking at what you go to show for that extra money you gave them to have your own money a few days earlier…it makes you feel kinda stupid for doing it.
I mean.. what’s the point in it? (besides going along with the digital age concept of instant gratification)…
There is not much of a point in it, except just to be able to spend money quicker. It all spends the same no matter WHEN you get it in your hand.

[Rozilyn]

Unless you are just destitute don’t do it and that guy who said he wasn’t charged maybe he didn’t see it but there is always a fee nobody is going to give you their money without charging you a fee for doing it, so if you can wait just wait on your return wide blow off $1,000

[Itsuhme-notmario]

You can believe there isn’t a fee if you want, but they aren’t going to just hand you $750 without some type of interest charges. One way or another they get money for doing it…and it’s hidden in the preparer fee schedule. I’ve been dealing with tax preparer office for years, setting up the computers, network and software for them…and the charges are there. It’ll be at least 300% annual interest rate.

This kind of loan is the most predatory loan you can possibly ask for.. It’s already your money and they make $200 to $500 to let you have a tenth of your money ten to fifteen days early… There is a reason why you have to have a minimum refund coming back to get the loan..So they know they will get their fees.

[john]

I did it. no intrest or fee. I was approved

[Lee]

I saw a sign today that the tax place inside Walmart offers the $750 advance. They will probably charge you a high fee along with high tax prep fees for the advance. Years ago my friend did the advance thing and the fee was really high.

[angela]

Awful experience. I went to a tax agency a few years back just on the fact that they would give me a cash advance, I could have used TurboTax to I needed the money right away. Not only did the agency’s application for the cash advance in my name deny me they charged me $400 and they messed up on my state return forcing me to pay another company to fix it. when I wanted to speak to the owner of the franchise the manager said it was up for discussion to give that information out and refused to tell me who the owner was. not recommended.

[Jen]

Never heard of it

[Author]

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