For those of you who use tax $ for trip...

[growinupdisney]

Just heard from a friend that works at H&R block that there will be no quick/rapid rebates this year from anyone! You send in a wait They did say that H&R block were looking to do something thru there company but as of now no!

 

[southern_redhead]

Not being terribly tax proficient...how does that affect efiling? Will it take longer to get the refund or is that a whole different ball of wax? Not that it matters DH and I are praying we don't have to pay in. Meanwhile, with 4 kids and one of those we pay CS on we are breaking even but, hey, the government needs more of my hard earned $$$

 

[GingerJay]

Is that like their refund loan they give? Normally it doesn't take too long when you efile- just a couple of weeks or so..I always use a tax return for our trip but we're not planning one this year

 

[worm761]

I would assume that means the rapid refund thing where you get your refund in 24 hours. They take a huge portion of it on top of their fees though so we never use it. We do efile though and usually have ours back in two weeks.

 

[vicki_c]

Right - due to Government pressure (or regulation, not sure which), no more refund anticipation loans from H&R Block. The exorbitant fees charged were giving them a black eye. I agree - we e-file and have had our refund in our bank account (direct deposit) from our Federal taxes within 7 days. Once I think it was like 3 days. State took a little longer, but we still had it within 2 weeks or so.

Here's an article on it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101227/bs_nm/us_handrblock
Based on reading that now, I guess it wasn't the "black eye" issue that I thought (I should have known better - LOL!) but a problem with the bank that was doing it for them. I'll have to read the whole thing more carefully, I had just read the headline in the paper the other day.

It does mention though that the APR for those can range from 50% to 500%!! I would definitely steer clear.

 

[tinkmom2]

We sometimes do get the rapid refund but we always get the state back which is e filed within a week. I am sure we will be fine waiting to get our money back and will have some extra this year because we won't have to pay the fees. Here in Wisconsin they are also cracking down on all the Check in go's and payday loan places too. Some of those were charging up to 500 percent interest.

 

[Tina]

I used to work in a tax office. The Rapid Refunds are such a ripoff. Why not just be ready to file as early as possible and file electronically? Mine always posts to my checking account in about a week to 10 days.

 

[msmayor]

I used to work in a tax office. The Rapid Refunds are such a ripoff. Why not just be ready to file as early as possible and file electronically? Mine always posts to my checking account in about a week to 10 days.

Exactly.

My feeling is if you need the money that quickly to be able to go on a Disney trip, perhaps you should be rethinking your needs and wants.

 

[Purseval]

Having enough of a refund to take a WDW vacation sounds like poor planning. If you are getting a large refund it means you are giving the government an interest free loan on top of all you have to pay, not a sound financial strategy unless you are such a poor saver that getting it back from the government actually looks like some sort of windfall.

 

[Handbag Lady]

We never get a refund so it doesn't matter. We're taxed to the gils.

 

[mjkacmom]

Finally! They can stop ripping people off! We file online, and usually get the money in a week or so.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

My MIL will be screwed.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We read that in Georgia you can't efile Georgia state returns until February. Something to do with the new tax laws and software needing to be upgraded.

I don't get a large refund since we plan really well but I know other people who will be annoyed.

 

[Pembo]

If you look on the IRS website, there is a schedule of efile and direct deposit dates. It is usually pretty quick.

I agree those rapid refund loans were a rip-off. H&R Block was using your tax return!

 

[Tracerr00]

I just read an article on this today as well. From what I understand, it will not affect people that don't itemize their deductions. If you have just a straightforward tax return and you take the standard deduction, then you will be fine. It said that the new laws/software issues will not affect two thirds of filers.

 

[jessp1021]

I agree with above posters we do e-file and have it back fairly fast with direct deposit

 

[Marionnette]

Having enough of a refund to take a WDW vacation sounds like poor planning. If you are getting a large refund it means you are giving the government an interest free loan on top of all you have to pay, not a sound financial strategy unless you are such a poor saver that getting it back from the government actually looks like some sort of windfall.

I actually felt that way, too. Then I learned that there are alot of people who get back way more than they put in.

 

[allyphoe]

Here's an article on it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101227/bs_nm/us_handrblock
Based on reading that now, I guess it wasn't the "black eye" issue that I thought (I should have known better - LOL!) but a problem with the bank that was doing it for them.

The "problem" with the bank that was doing it for them is that the IRS is no longer including a "Debt Indicator" on the e-file ack. Without knowing whether the refund will be paid out (or reduced due to other federal or state tax debts, or child support), the bank wasn't willing to make the loans.

For people who can't come up with the prep fees, HRB will still be offering "refund anticipation checks" - you get a debit card (or an actual check, if you pay an extra $20) with the balance of your refund (less tax prep and RAC fee) in 8-14 days. Same time frame as direct deposit, but avoids the check cashing fee (which can be avoided by cashing it at Walmart anyhow) and fronts you the preparer fee.

 

[torinsmom]

I actually felt that way, too. Then I learned that there are alot of people who get back way more than they put in.

I don't get back nearly as much as I put in, but I like to get the big refund. Getting $100 extra per month just doesn't do as much for me as getting a $1200 direct deposit all at once. $100 tends to get sucked up pretty easily(I admit that I am not as disciplined as I should be), whereas I immediately transfer my tax refund to my savings and then start paying for my Disney tickets and my condo. The rest I budget out of my bi-annual teaching supplement.

 

[momxx5]

We used to like the "forced savings" of getting a large refund.
Then times change and we needed every bit each month, so we had our withholdings adjusted.

Then we owed for 2 years and so we e-filed on tax day....no sense in paying them back early.

Last yr was a minimal refund with our employment situation changing during the year. We e-file and get Fed return back fairly quickly.
However, NC was the slowest return EVER. They were delaying refunds because they could not afford to actual pay out the refunds. There was a date set....like mid May or something, where if you did not recieve your refund then the state owed you interest.