Free filing income tax with last paycheck stub?

Any business that loans you money on your refund are doing refund anticipation loans (RALs), universally denounced as one of the worst things anyone can do financially.

The business gives you a loan based on your anticipated refund...at a massively high interest rate (especially considering they are lending you your own money) and then, as part of the agreement, require they file your return for you (when all the paperwork is available) at probably 5 or 6 times the fee they would normally charge (and that to file a return that can be done for free on line anyway).

H&R Block was sued by several states and paid a huge penalty...and basically is forbidden from doing this type of business anymore. However, they changed it around a little and essentially still do.

If you're having too much income withheld, that is what needs to be corrected (and could have been at anytime during the year) by contacting your payroll dept and filing a new W-4 with them.

The below is from an independent source:

"According to the Consumer Federation of America and the National Consumer Law Center, RALs are controversial because, like payday loans and title loans, RALs are high-profit, low-risk loans marketed toward the working poor. A 2006 study by the NCLC and the Consumer Federation of America found that "Based upon the prices for RALs in 2006, a consumer can expect to pay about $100 in order to get a RAL for the average refund of about $2,150 from a commercial tax preparation chain this year."

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