I am at the NYC IRS Tax Forum and have talked with my contacts at several RAL banks. The SBBT successor has funding and a bank partner and will be providing RALs, as will a few other RAL banks. The same thing has happened in the past when the DDI was pulled in late December 1994 for the 1995 tax season by then Treasury Secretary, Lloyd Benson. The result was higher RAL fees and fewer RAL approvals. The same will happen for the 2011 tax season. We will encourage our RAL clients to switch to a lower cost stored value credit card, also called a prepaid credit card, which is the equivalent of a RAC. This option will be offered by the RAL banks as well as by several credit card providers. Many prior RAL customers should still be able to get RALs in 2011, but they will pay a higher fee.
