Protect low-income communities from predatory tax preparers

Lawmakers must act to protect underprivileged Georgia communities from predatory tax preparers:

* The IRS currently requires tax preparers to disclose the financial terms of RALs, yet consumers continue to be duped into taking out high-interest loans at high costs because of the confusing financial fine print. Georgia law should force tax preparers to disclose the real terms of the loans in layman’s terms and strengthen penalties for tax preparers who fail to do so. This disclosure could be easily accomplished through fact sheets provided to consumers and displayed in plain sight in tax preparers’ offices.


* Require that tax preparers selling RALs provide consumers with a copy of their loan agreement and that consumers with limited ability to read or understand English be given a fair opportunity to understand the financial terms of the loan.