Waiting For A Tax Refund? Don't Get Screwed

As the April 18 tax filing deadline rapidly approaches, many Oregonians are looking forward to refunds. But some of them, chances are, will fall into a trap more costly than taking out a payday loan. 

The Portland advocacy group, Economic Fairness Oregon, has looked into what are called Refund Anticipation Checks. Such checks are effectively a way for cash-strapped taxpayers to borrow the cost of paying their tax preparers and get what's coming back to them from the tax man faster—minus what EFO says are hefty fees. 

Here's the analysis from EFO's blog of the checks, or RACs:

WWeek 2015