Refund

[S T]

Have a t/p that is trying to help out their nephew, age 21, who is incarcerated. They can obtain the signature on either the forms 8879 or a paper return. That is not an issue.

There is a $48 refund, and the nephew obviously does not have a checking account and I would think has no way to cash this refund check.

Question, can the t/p (Aunt and Uncle) use their checking account to have the $48 direct deposited?

Is there any other "issue" that I might need to point out to the Aunt and Uncle, if they receive the refund check into their account?

Sandy

[taxea]

My understanding of DD is that the taxpayer's name needs to be on the account. taxea

[David1980]

Once endorsed a refund check should be negotiable by anyone. (This is why they always tell you never to sign the checks until you're ready to deposit them.) I'd have the check sent to the aunt/uncle who can then take it to the nephew to get it endorsed next time they see him and deposit it into their bank account. If you do a DD it may or may not go through.

Otherwise, a lawyer could probably write up a durable power of attorney to do the job (or maybe you can find one online) that would allow the uncle/aunt to sign for the son.

Or you could apply it to 2009 tax. If he's planning to work in 2009 with such a small amount of refund it may be worth it just for simplicity sake.

[Jesse]

http://www.thetaxbook.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7540&highlight=checking+account+refund

Sandy this was asked last year about a business account vs. personal account.

Similar to the MFJ where only one spouse is on the account, I thought both names needed to be on the account but the general consensus seemed to be that unless the bank actually refuses the deposit it will work.

[S T]

Check

Thanks,

Yes, Jesse I found the old posts, just rechecking in case there was something new.

I think I will follow what David outlined, and hope that the Aunt and Uncle can deposit the paper check into their account.

Sandy

[ChEAr$]

Direct deposits

A local CPA sent out a mass letter saying that he would do tax returns for free provided the taxpayer donated an equivalent amount to a certain church. He then went on to say that
a direct deposit could be made into the church's bank account!

This of course is not permitted as we know, since money must go into a taxpayer's own account.

When I pointed this out to him via email, he thanked me for it and noted that the draft of the letter was corrected, but the original draft got sent out by mistake.