# Income tax preparation offices in the 'hood **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019 "2013-01-22T17:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/21 "2013-01-23T14:09:24Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > The “Making Work Pay Tax Credit” was around for 2009 and 2010. It’s gone now. (And if you haven’t filed your 2009 tax return yet, hurry – your time runs out April 15, 2013.) The MWPTC was replaced by a 2 percentage point reduction in the Social Security withholding tax. > > The reloadable debit card market has suddenly become more competitive in the last year. You can have direct deposits such as paychecks and tax refunds sent directly to the cards. For example, look at the [Bluebird Card from Walmart](https://bluebird.com/). No maintenance fees, free billpay service, free cash withdrawals at Walmart, free cash withdrawals at other ATMs if you have direct deposit. It’s actually quite a reasonable alternative for the unbanked. There are others, I’m just using this as an example. > > It used to be that the prepaid cards were quite a ripoff with huge fees. Most still are. But someone out there has realized there is a market to be exploited and several vendors have started issuing reasonably-priced cards. That 2 percentage point reduction in SS is gone now too. I saw an ad yesterday offering an immediate $1000 debit card if you bring in a pay stub. I assume they prequalify you as one who will get a refund to pay it back. There also must be a way that they can force you to come back and use them to file. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/22 "2013-01-23T16:39:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Back before the IRS required SSN’s for all dependants, Fotheringay-Phipps number might have been pretty close. To be clear, I’m pretty sure my relative’s experience is after SSNs were required for dependents. Because I think what he was saying is that the SSNs are what are bought and sold. Meaning someone who is not planning to file for whatever reason sells the rights to use their kids’ SSNs to someone who is, and so on. Of course, my relative could be wrong - I can’t vouch for that number over the IRS estimate. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/23 "2013-01-23T18:19:24Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I saw an ad yesterday offering an immediate $1000 debit card if you bring in a pay stub. I assume they prequalify you as one who will get a refund to pay it back. There also must be a way that they can force you to come back and use them to file. The force is mostly implied. You think you have to come back, so you do. In addition, coming back is the easiest way to repay the loan advance. If you were financially sophisticated enough to pay the loan back separately, you’d probably manage your finances so that you didn’t need the loan in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/26 "2018-12-10T12:44:56Z")
Reported ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/27 "2018-12-10T12:55:29Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > Slight digression: I’m not saying you’re wrong, but this concept is blowing my mind. Why would an illegal alien file income taxes? In what way can they fill out the forms without tipping off INS yet still receive a refund? Why would they give their address and (presumably false) SSN to the IRS when this information helps prove that they’re illegal? 😕 [old thread, I know] It’s my understanding that illegal aliens are filing income taxes not because of the refund (though that may be part of it) but so that the stolen social security number they’re using doesn’t get flagged as not filing their taxes. If that happens, the IRS is going to attempt to contact the person that it actual belongs to which, in the end, will likely result in A)the person knowing about it and B)the IRS tracking down where it’s being used since they’ll be able to see the employer that’s been paying taxes on it. The person, I’d guess, would end up arrested sooner or later. Filing taxes means the IRS either won’t find out or it’ll take them a lot longer. As for why there’s so many in low income parts of town, I always assumed it’s because (as someone else said), less [tax] educated people feel they can get a bigger refund that way, coupled with them just not knowing how to do it. I had a, we’ll call her, “less [tax] educated”, that had H&R do her taxes every year, and paid an arm and a leg for it. Every year I tried to convince her to do it herself with Turbo Tax (or the H&R block software) and every year she’d say that her taxes are ‘really complicated’. By ‘really complicated’ she meant she had student loans. Other than her W-2, that was it. Even when I explained that I have my W-2, investing income, a handful of savings accounts and a dependent and mine aren’t complicated and I can do it in less than an hour, she still had no interest. She’d rather pay 50-100 more to have a person do it than just punch in some numbers on her own. Granted, when it comes to saving money, she was one of the worst I’ve ever met. Also, there’s probably something to be said for people that would rather ‘get their taxes done’. Whether they don’t know how easy it can be or all they know is that you have someone do your taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/28 "2018-12-10T16:07:38Z")
New York (where the OP seemed to be posting from, way back when) largely outlawed payday loans. As others have noted, this doesn’t make the need go away. Low-income people who have trouble qualifying for credit cards still may need short-term lending, and tax refund loans are one of the ways to fill this gap. Here in Virginia, there are car-title lending shops everywhere for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/29 "2018-12-10T16:16:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Reported Usually, it’s obvious to me why a thread has been reported; i.e., spamming, etc. I’m not sure why you reported this thread. Could you elaborate? I ask because legalized loan sharking has become a real problem in this nation, like the “Payday Loans” place I see every time I go to Mariano’s. I’m wondering what there is about the discussion that offended you. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/30 "2018-12-10T16:18:26Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Usually, it’s obvious to me why a thread has been reported; i.e., spamming, etc. I’m not sure why you reported this thread. Could you elaborate? > > I ask because legalized loan sharking has become a real problem in this nation, like the “Payday Loans” place I see every time I go to Mariano’s. I’m wondering what there is about the discussion that offended you. It was a spammer. The mods missed removing the “reported” post. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/31 "2018-12-10T16:21:31Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > It was a spammer. The mods missed removing the “reported” post. Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019/32 "2018-12-10T19:21:34Z")
Yeah, there was a spam post between **dracoi** and **Northern Piper**. Actually two of them, but the first was was a few years old, and apparently **ecg** nuked it before anyone saw the bump and replied. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-preparation-offices-in-the-hood/648019.md?page=1)