We've issued a news release with the Consumer Federation of America and the National Consumer Law Center critiquing last week's IRS actions on privacy and predatory lending. Here is the lede from our release:

Consumer group representatives condemned new taxpayer "un-privacy" rules recently issued by the IRS for expanding rather than closing "gaping loopholes" that already allow sharing and marketing based on tax records, but issued cautious support for a separate IRS request for comments on developing new regulations that could rein in the marketing of predatory refund anticipation loans by tax preparers. On the same day that it issued its weak final privacy rule, the IRS asked for comments on developing rules restricting the sharing of tax return information to market refund anticipation loans, refund checks, audit insurance and other high cost products typically sold to low income taxpayers.