Block, Acorn Team in Filer Education Effort

Tax-prep conglomerate H&R Block and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now have teamed up in a partnership to help boost awareness of the Earned Income Tax credit and to reduce filing costs for low-income taxpayers. Block and Acorn will canvass some 65 cities in a door-to-door joint education effort aimed at low-income filers who may be eligible for the EITC. The effort will also highlight the costs and speed factors associated with refund options, and also work to hasten the elimination of costly fees connected with refund anticipation loans. Ironically, the Block-Acorn alliance comes exactly one year after Acorn held rallies at Block offices protesting what they perceived were aggressive sales of the company's RALs, which they claim unfairly targeted lower-income taxpayers.