With the filing deadline just six weeks away, tax preparation offices pop up this time of year. And in an effort to get your business, many offer instant refunds. The Newschannel 5 I-Team says, Beware!

In a short stretch of South Kingshighway, there are four tax preparation companies operating: two H&R Blocks, a Hewitt-Jackson and Liberty Tax Service. Liberty an upstart, with its employees dressed in costumes like Uncle Sam or the Statue of Liberty, in hopes of rounding up business.

One happy Liberty customer is Brianlika Rhodes, who used a coupon to get nearly free tax service and a refund in less than 24 hours. Rhodes won't pay interest on her quick refund, thanks to a coupon, but most customers getting quick refunds are paying interest.

Suzanne Dawson of St. Louis went to Block last year, and got the quick refund, but she didn't realize it was a loan. She didn't know, until Newschannel Five I-Team reporter Mike Owens told her last week.

Dawson, who was getting her taxes done for free this year by the Tax Assistance Program run by Catholic Charities, didn't see the fine print that she was taking out a loan.
That loan, according to Jane Schoeck of the tax project, carried a high interest rate, anywhere from 45 to 700 percent!

Schoeck says, in many cases, people who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit don't see the fine print, and are just interested in getting their money as soon as possible.

Schoeck is hoping to educate less affluent taxpayers, in hopes they can become more self sufficient when it comes to earning a living and paying taxes.

Newschannel Five contacted each of the companies named in this story, contacting them on January 26th, via e-mail. It's now the end of February, and still no word back from any of the companies.

Meanwhile, H & R Block is paying out more than 60 million dollars to its customers, as part of a settlement of four class action lawsuits. The suits cover eight million customers in more than 20 states, including Missouri. There's a separate suit in Illinois, which covers more than three million customers, but it has yet to be settled.

The suits allege that the company failed to follow state laws regulating lending, violating state consumer protection laws. Customers affected by the settlement should get letters from the court by March 15th.

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