Taxing Time For Yonkers Couple

Couple jumps the gun on their tax refund.

Did you ever hear the expression, "Don't count your chickens 'til they're hatched?" One couple from Yonkers, learned the hard way. They were already celebrating their riches before they found out it wasn't to be.

Renee Powell and her husband and two kids couldn't wait. They saw an ad for an H&R Block tax preparation program that said; if you bring in your last paystub from December 2008, an accountant will estimate what you'll get back from your taxes. You can then take out a loan for that amount when you do file your taxes and when you eventually get your refund, you pay it back.

They signed up for the program, but somehow got the idea that they were getting back over $4,000.
They took out a loan from H & R Block for just over $800.00 and proceeded to go on a shopping spree.

When they got their W-2's in the mail, they went back to H&R Block to actually file their taxes.

But according to H & R Block, they were not due thousands of dollars, they were only due back a little over $800.
Now..when they do get their refund, they'll have to use all of it to pay back their loan and they'll owe a little bit. There was the $45.00 fee to apply for the loan thru a Mastercard/Emerald card deal..and there was a finance charge involved.

Here's what H&R Block had to say:

"Refunds are estimated based on information provided by the client. If there are discrepancies in the information given, the actual refund any client receives may be different."

H&R Block did agree to do the couple's taxes for free, waiving the $175. fee. That puts the couple ahead about $70, but nowhere near where they thought they'd have.

So the old adage applies: "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."