"Would you take a loan with interest rates of 100 percent or more? Unlikely. Then why did 8.7 million American taxpayers do that in 2006?  The answer is that they were promised fast cash, but in many cases, were unaware that they were taking out a loan at all. US taxpayers in 2006 spent over $900 million to get their tax refunds a few days early.

Who are these borrowers? Not surprisingly, they are lower-income taxpayers, eligible for Earned Income Tax Credit, and more often than not, living in communities of color. In fact, according to a recent report from Woodstock Institute, taxpayers in African-American communities in Illinois in 2006 were 3.5 times more likely to use RALs than taxpayers from other communities..."

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