Some tax professionals hate refund anticipation loans as much as consumer advocates do. Responding to today’s column about the IRS looking into these high-cost loans for the first time, Andrew H. Scholes writes in an e-mail:

 "I am a CPA in Dayton, Ohio, and have always tried to talk to people about the interest they are paying to get their money a couple of days faster. We have never offered RALs (nor will we). As you noted, taxpayers can receive their refunds in a very short period of time by having their return filed electronically and direct depositing their money into their bank account.

“Thank you again for trying to wake people up as to how much they are costing themselves to get their own money. The next step is to talk to them about W-4 planning so that they can have more in their weekly paycheck rather than giving an interest free loan to the government so they can have a refund in the thousands of dollars.”

But William Wilson, a Maryland tax preparer for about 14 years, says one reason refund loans won’t disappear is that taxpayers demand them. He writes:

“I intensely dislike selling them, but both you and the IRS are not dealing with reality in reference to the creation of the loan. The vast majority of the loans are demanded by the customer. I always attempt to discuss the three available methods for refunds, but very few minds are changed. I have been told not a few times “I don’t care what it costs...”

“You have also been misled on the speed at which electronically filed, direct deposit refunds are deposited. You will get Maryland state refunds in two to three days, but the federal will be 10 to 17 days. This results from both federal processing time and the fact that the IRS pays refunds on Fridays only.

“In short, I welcome the IRS inquiry, but as I stated above, in many cases the loans are demanded by the client. If any action were to be taken, it would have to be a total ban to maintain a level playing field.”