Notes Receivable and Allowances for Loan Losses

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2023

Notes Receivable and Allowances for Loan Losses


4. Notes Receivable and Allowances for Loan Losses

Notes receivable primarily consist of term loans to small businesses and refund advance loans to consumers. As of July 31, 2023 and July 31, 2022, the net notes receivable balance was $762 million and $540 million, respectively. The current portion is included in notes receivable, and the long term portion is included in other assets on our consolidated balance sheets. As of July 31, 2023 and July 31, 2022, the allowances for loan losses were not material.

Term loans to small businesses. We provide financing to small businesses via term loans. The term loans are not secured and are recorded at amortized cost, net of allowances for loan losses. As of July 31, 2023 and July 31, 2022, the net notes receivable balance for term loans was $757 million and $540 million, respectively. We maintain an allowance for loan losses to reserve for potentially uncollectible notes receivable. We evaluate the creditworthiness of our term loan portfolio on a pooled basis due to its composition of small, homogeneous loans with similar general credit risk and characteristics and apply a loss rate at the time of loan origination. The loss rate and underlying model are updated periodically to reflect actual loan performance and changes to assumptions. We make judgments about the known and inherent risks in the loan portfolio, adverse situations that may affect borrowers’ ability to repay, and current and future economic conditions. When we determine that amounts are uncollectible, we write them off against the allowance. As of July 31, 2023 and July 31, 2022, the allowances for loan losses on term loans to small businesses were not material.

We consider a loan to be delinquent when the payments are one day past due. We place delinquent loans on nonaccrual status and stop accruing interest revenue. Loans are returned to accrual status if they are brought current or have performed in accordance with the contractual terms for a reasonable period of time and, in our judgment, will continue to make periodic principal and interest payments as per contractual terms. Past due amounts were not material for all periods presented.

Interest revenue is earned on loans originated and held to maturity in accordance with the specified period of time and defined interest rate noted in the loan contract. Interest revenue is recorded net of amortized direct origination costs and is included in service and other revenue in our consolidated statements of operations. Interest revenue was not material for all periods presented.

In August 2023, we entered into a forward flow arrangement with an institutional investor. Pursuant to this arrangement, we have a commitment to sell a minimum of $250 million in participation interests of unsecured term loans to small businesses over the next 18 months, subject to certain eligibility criteria.

Refund Advance Loans. Refund advance loans are loans available to eligible TurboTax customers based on a customer's anticipated income tax refund, at no cost to the customer. The loans are repaid from the customer's income tax refund, which is generally received within three to four weeks after acceptance of the customer's income tax return by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We partner with a third-party issuing bank to originate the loans and subsequently purchase full participating interests in those loans. The refund advance loans are not secured and are recorded at amortized cost, net of an allowance for loan losses. As of July 31, 2023, the net notes receivable balance for refund advance loans was not material. We had no refund advance loans outstanding as of July 31, 2022. We maintain an allowance for loan losses to reserve for potentially uncollectible loans. We evaluate the likelihood of repayment on a pooled basis due to its composition of small, homogeneous loans with similar general credit risk and characteristics and apply a loss rate at the time of loan purchase. The loss rate and underlying model are updated periodically to reflect actual loan performance and changes to assumptions. When we determine that amounts are uncollectible, we write them off against the allowance. As of July 31, 2023, the allowance for loan losses on refund advance loans was not material.