If someone offered to give you a loan for $2100 at interest rates of up to 222 percent you’d probably laugh at them and walk away; but, this spring, 1 in 10 Americans will do just that: for the privilege of borrowing their own money, over 12 million tax filers will pay interest rates as high as 744 percent to borrow their own money thru refund-anticipation or “rapid refund” loans. Refund anticipation loans are short term, high interest loans that commercial tax preparation services offer to ta.