Money transfers for tax refunds

Abstract

Tax refunds are provided via a money transfer service. Merely by way of example, a taxpayer (or a tax preparer) might provide to the IRS an account number at a bank, as a target for a direct deposit refund related to a tax return. In an aspect, the account number might have a specific format that informs the bank that the refund is to be processed by the money transfer service, and in another aspect, the account number might include data that identifies the taxpayer to the money transfer service.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of providing a tax refund to a taxpayer for a tax return, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a financial institution computer system, from the taxpayer, a funds request indicating a payment vehicle in which a first portion of the tax refund is to be disbursed;   creating, by the financial institution computer system, an account identifier comprising:
 an indication of the taxpayer; 
   providing, by the financial institution computer system, the account identifier to a first government entity, as a direct deposit target for the tax refund corresponding to the tax return;   receiving, by the financial institution computer system, a direct deposit from a second government entity, wherein the direct deposit indicates the account identifier; and   providing a first portion of the tax refund to a recipient using the indicated payment vehicle.