Don’t Get your Refund Early

With tax season coming up, many people are already planning how they will spend their tax refund. In order to get more people coming through their doors, accounting companies are promising to give you the expected refund on a secured credit card as soon as your taxes are filed. In these hard times this is a tempting offer. After all, who couldn’t use a little extra money during these economic times? Although you may be tempted by these claims, there are a number of reasons why you shouldn’t be depending on this type of refund anticipation loan to pay off your bills.

By using this refund anticipation loan instead of simply waiting for your refund check to be mailed to you, you are looking at losing money over the long term. The amount of fees that come with using this “Emerald Card” are staggering. Unless you are in significant need of your tax refund right away, there is a lot of benefits to simply waiting a little bit longer to receive your money. Unless you are about to file for a Minneapolis bankruptcy and are advised to take this type of loan by a Minnesota bankruptcy lawyer, you should consider the number of fees that are included with this type of loan.

There are a number of fees associated with using an Emerald Card to collect a refund anticipation loan. Each time you want to use your Emerald Card at the ATM there is a $1.50 fee that will come out of your tax refund anticipation loan. You may think that you can get around this fee by simply walking into your bank and talking to the teller. However this does not work either as there is a 1.5% fee on any withdrawals that are taken out. These are only a smattering of the fees that come with accepting a refund anticipation loan. Although it may be necessary for some who are truly desperate for the money, in the majority of scenarios it is a much better idea to simply wait a few extra weeks and allow the government to mail you a check for your refund.