Refund Anticipation Loans have been available for many years

Initially Fiscal Tax called their Refund Anticipation Loan service Express Refunds, HR Block called it Rapid Refunds, Jackson Hewitt called it Fastest Refunds. A few years ago, IRS and bank regulations required tax preparation companies to simply call it a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) and many smaller tax preparation companies were no longer qualified to offer the service.

The Perfect Solution

RALs have long been the perfect solution for tax payers who needed to get at a loan in advance of their tax refund. Instead of waiting for tax refund checks to arrive in the mail, RALs were a convenient way to pay off holiday debts, take care of family emergencies, pay for dental and medical bills, etc.

A RAL Is A Bank Loan

A RAL is actually a bank loan with checks issued by the participating bank. The bank loans the tax payer money in advance of their refund being issued by the IRS. The bank gets its money back from the IRS when the refund was released. As with any bank loan, there are fees involved. Though tax payers who qualify for a RAL do not pay any fees upfront, the loan fees are deducted from the refund amount when released by the IRS. Still, the convenience of having a check in hand in usually fewer than 24 hours was well worth the additional fees for many tax payers.

Not Everyone Qualified

Not everyone who applied for a RAL received one.Examples of some of the reasons taxpayers are not approved for a RAL include being behind on making child support or student loan payments.
HR Block no longer offers RALs. They are only available by a limited number of tax preparation companies, including Fiscal Tax. And this is the last year RALs will be available from any tax preparation company.