Defend Your Dollars is the website of the Consumers Union Financial Services Campaign, where we support reforms to the financial marketplace to curb bad practices by banks and lenders.
Refund anticipation loans (RALs) are made by tax preparers and banks prior to the tax filing season and before taxpayers have received their IRS Form W-2s. Since a taxpayer cannot file a tax return without a W-2, pay stub RALs are made based upon an estimated tax refund calculated from the consumer’s most recent pay stub.