RAL Fees & Cashing of Checks

[Gloria]

This is the first year that I will be offering bank products. I enrolled with CHASE. What do some of you charge for your fees for preparing the RAL documents. I have no idea what the standard fees would be. Also, for those that may not have a checking account, is it easy to cash the checks with proper identification. I do not think I will be preparing many RALs but want to make the service available for possible new clients.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Virtual Managed Solutions]

It has been my experience that it is getting harder and harder to cash checks without having at least a savings account established at any bank, proper I.D. or not. It may be different from area to area, but thought I would share my thoughts.

I can lend no ideas on fees & pricing, but I'm sure others will be very helpful!

[Gail in Virginia]

And I have never done RAL's so I am probably the last person that should be responding, but I have been told that it is a good idea to establish a relationship with a local bank for them to cash the RAL checks that you issue. One of the bigger RAL sellers in our area even has an ATM machine in his office for the convenience of his customer's in cashing their checks. I am not sure how that works.

[Lion EA]

Do you have a Chase branch nearby? If not, I agree with Gail that you should talk to your own friendly, local banker to see if he will cash Chase checks from your clients with photo ID.

[jainen]

>>what the standard fees would be<<

There are no standard fees. Like other industries, tax preparation is subject to the rules about price fixing, which prohibit even informal comparisons for the purpose of setting rates.

Set your RAL fees like any other, considering your own direct costs, overhead, and profit requirements. Since it's a small part of your practice, you might find it most profitable to offer it as a free come-on.

[taxtrio]

This is the first year that I will be offering bank products. I enrolled with CHASE. What do some of you charge for your fees for preparing the RAL documents. I have no idea what the standard fees would be. Also, for those that may not have a checking account, is it easy to cash the checks with proper identification. I do not think I will be preparing many RALs but want to make the service available for possible new clients.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

I used HSBC for the last five years, but they no longer offer RAL/RAC products for us little guys.

So I signed up with Chase. The maine reason I'm signing with them this year is that here in SouthEastern

Michigan there is a Chase Bank on every corner. Chase says they will cash RAL/RAC checks at no charge

as long as they have proper I.D....

I know with my former bank (not located in Michigan); some clients had to go to Walmart's or Sears to get them

cashed if they didn't have an account. The fees varied from year to year.... I'll let you know if Chase works out

better.

Taxtrio

[Lloyd Hudson]

I used HSBC for the last five years, but they no longer offer RAL/RAC products for us little guys.

So I signed up with Chase. The maine reason I'm signing with them this year is that here in SouthEastern

Michigan there is a Chase Bank on every corner. Chase says they will cash RAL/RAC checks at no charge

as long as they have proper I.D....

I know with my former bank (not located in Michigan); some clients had to go to Walmart's or Sears to get them

cashed if they didn't have an account. The fees varied from year to year.... I'll let you know if Chase works out

better.

Taxtrio

Although I do not do a lot of bank products ( I discourage them as much as Possible) I charge a $25.00 Doc prep fee because of the additonal time it takes to sign and explain the contracts and what ifs of a RAL not being approved. i think I did 4 out of 600 returns last year. I also went with Chase because of the number of Branches locally although they do not pay anything to the preparer for the service. I do like the reduced fees they charge the client. A lot cheaper than HSBC.

[David1980]

The bank itself might have a limit on what you can charge as a RAL/RAC fee. Seems to be that Santa Barbara was $40. I don't know anything about Chase though.

(The banks also may have a "maximum total fees" as well, think that was somewhere between $500 and $1000. Hopefully anyone with that complex of a return is smart enough to not get a RAL.)