A Volunteer Solution to Predatory Tax Refund Loans

This City of Austin press release calls for volunteers to sign up here to provide  free tax preparation and simultaneously solve a problem with a different type of predatory loan offered by commercial tax preparers. The industry's name for these loans is refund anticipation loans. The interest rates are sometimes in the triple digits, and the fees are also high. For example, until the end of 2010 H&R Block and HSBC contracted to provide these loans, then in 2011 H&R Block offset the loss of income from the contract by raising fees on what the industry calls refund anticipation checks. You can read the details of the federal class action lawsuit that arose from these practices in Matt Reynolds' article, H&R Block Accused of Preying on Poor.

The Community Tax Centers mentioned in the CoA press release arose from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program initiated by the IRS. Many of the tax refunds are due to the work performed by families which are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Susan Combs, Texas State Comptroller, stated “Last year [2009], more than 2.3 million Texans claimed the credit and received more than $5.3 billion in EITC refunds. That’s an average of $2,313 per qualifying household, bringing financial relief to families and a boost to the Texas economy.” RAISE Texas reported:

In 2010, community tax center programs in Texas prepared over 93,200 returns resulting in over $72 million in Earned Income Tax Credits, over $37 million in Child Tax Credits, over 3.1 million in Education Tax Credits, and over $142 million in refunds to hard working families. These free tax preparation services also saved participants over $10 million in fees that tax preparers would charge them for their services. There are over 200 VITA sites in Texas, located in over 40 counties throughout the state. In order to reach more Texans, community tax centers need support from public and private entities.

In Austin, this support is provided by Foundation Communities.

This isn't the half of all Americans causing Governor Perry's dismay.

The 2008 report, Tax Haven Banks and US Tax Compliance, by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations stated: "Each year, the United States loses an estimated $100 billion in tax revenues due to offshore tax abuses. These funds represent a substantial portion of the annual US tax gap, which is the difference between what US taxpayers owe and what they pay, most recently estimated by the IRS at $345 billion." This was towards the end of the UBS banking scandal. The report continues, "UBS alone has an estimated 19,000 accounts in Switzerland for US clients with assets valued at $18 billion." This isn't the half of all Americans causing Governor Perry's dismay: “We’re dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all Americans don’t even pay any income tax.” The eight case studies from the report demonstrate the Americans involved (as summarized in the IRS Tax Audit News). Obviously these aren't the half of all Americans who don't owe any federal income taxes, these are the ones unwilling to pay the income taxes they owe.

1. Marsh. The Marshes of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, hid $49 million in four Liechtenstein foundations over 20 years.
2. Wu. LGT [Liechtenstein Global Trust] helped William Wu hide ownership of assets, including his house in Forest Hills, New York, using an elaborate offshore structure.
3. Lowy. LGT used transfer companies and a foundation with a Delaware corporation to help the Lowys hide their beneficial interest in a foundation with $68 million in assets.
4. Greenfield. LGT private bankers, including Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein, met with Mr. Greenfield and his father to pitch the transfer of $30 million from Bank of Bermuda to LGT.
5. Gonzalez. LGT helped a Gonzalez car dealership inflate invoices, move funds offshore and, after getting sued for their pricing practices, hide assets in case of a court judgment.
6. Chong. LGT helped Richard Chong use hidden accounts to move millions of dollars related to his business ventures, routing them through an offshore corporation to avoid scrutiny.
7. Miskin. LGT helped Michael Miskin hide assets from courts, tax authorities, and his wife.
8. Olenicoff. Bradley Birkenfeld, a private banker employed by UBS AG, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring with a U.S. citizen, Igor Olenicoff, to defraud the IRS of $7.2 million in taxes owed on $200 million of assets hidden in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

These people are criminals, and they don't even include the drug dealers and terrorists who depend on the same bank secrecy. Besides the Swiss and Liechtenstein tax havens, there are Manhattan, London, Singapore, Andorra, The Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, The Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, Cyprus, The Isle of Man, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Monaco, Panama, San Marino, Seychelles, Turks and Caicos Islands and more. About 15% of the world's sovereign nations are tax havens and not all tax havens are sovereign nations.

The tax justice network estimates that "the amount of funds held offshore by individuals is about $11.5 trillion – with a resulting annual loss of tax revenue on the income from these assets of about 250 billion dollars. This is five times what the World Bank estimated in 2002  was needed to address the UN Millenium Development Goal of halving world poverty by 2015." (Tax Havens Cause Poverty)

Where is the fair tax that these people owe?