From Accounting today:
"National tax preparation chains are
exploiting the working poor by forcing them to spend a significant
portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit just to pay for filing their
taxes, according to a new report, and H&R Block is firing back.
The report, from the Progressive Policy
Institute, a liberal think tank, found that workers eligible for the
EITC continue to spend fees averaging around $400 at national tax
preparation chains such as Block and Liberty Tax Service. The report was
coauthored by Paul Weinstein Jr., a senior fellow at PPI and director
of the Public Management Graduate Program at Johns Hopkins University,
and Bethany Patten, a policy and research manager at Excellent Schools
Detroit.
In a recent survey of storefront operations in Baltimore
and Washington, D.C., the researchers found that those eligible for the
EITC, who are typically low-income workers with children, would spend
between 13 and 22 percent of their refund this year at local tax
preparation outlets. In Baltimore, where the average EITC refund is
$2,335, the cost to file ranged from $309 at H&R Block to $509 at
Liberty Tax Service. In Washington, D.C., where the average EITC refund
is $2,351, the cost to file ranged from $315 at H&R Block to $485 at
Liberty Tax Service."
The fees quoted are extraordinary. And despite H and R Blocks protest, we find that our clients were paying comparable fees for the simplest of returns.
Read more by clicking on this link.
