Refund Anticipation Loans?

1. Most of the tax prep mills still offer them.

2. Most of the tax prep mills such as Block, Liberty, Hewitt, etc. Some local preparers may also be partnered with a bank that does them.

3. No, they are not. To get a RAL you must have a tax prep firm that partners with a bank that offers the loans and have your return e-filed through the tax prep firm. The IRS does not start processing e-filed returns until Jan 15th so nobody will be doing RALs before then.

3a. Some of the tax prep mills offer a "holiday loan" to current or former customers. This is a personal loan with a high interest rate. It is not tied to your expected refund though if you go back after Jan 15, 2010 and have your return prepared there they can arrange to have the loan repaid out of your refund proceeds (usually for an additional fee). Typically it's between $300 and $1,000 with income and creditworthiness guidelines. Call around and ask.

4. You must meet basic creditworthiness guidelines that are up to the bank that offers the loan. You must have a projected refund of excess tax withheld from your pay. Most of the partner banks will no longer lend money based upon refundable credits any more because of delays by the IRS due to fraud prevention measures. You most have your return prepared by a tax prep firm who has partnered with a bank that offers the RALs (most do) and you must have your return e-filed through that firm. You must agree to pay significant fees. You must agree to repay the loan yourself on time if your refund is delayed or denied for ANY reason. For all of this, you get your money about a week faster than simply having the IRS send you money directly to your bank.