Recently, I was watching some football and a commercial came on that caught my eye. It was talking about the fact that tax refunds won't be available until February 15th. So, the tax company  in the commercial was offering a tax refund advance. I was literally stunned to see this and feared that these advances would be eerily similar to payday lenders. My research actually found some good numbers, but first let's discuss the reason for tax refund disbursements occurring February 15th or later.