Has anybody out there noticed multiple tax refunds being deposited into an individuals account. We have an account that has received 3 tax refunds all within a two week time period. Two were in excess of $6000.00. They were all done as an electronic deposit. Any advise on how this would be handled?

Just a stab in the dark here, but couldn't these refunds be 1 for Federal, 1 for State refunds for the primary account owner and the 3rd refund might be federal or state for a minor child? Or if the account is a joint one and (for example) the husband and wife file separately, I could easily see there being 3 refunds.

I'm not a lawyer nor do I work for the IRS, so I'm not positive, but I was under the impression that you can have your refund direct deposited to any bank account you choose, so a minor might choose a parent's account if they don't have one of their own, I should think.

Thanks for your slab, but Florida doesn't have state tax. The account that these refunds are being deposited to is in a single name.

The other thing to watch out for, is someone acting as a tax preparer and accepting the deposits into their own personal account. There are some rules about this, and I know it has been addressed in a previous thread too.

I am normally an optimist on most of these things, but this one sounds shady to me.

My bad about the slab, I meant stab. It's getting late.

It is possible that the person filed amended return(s) and the timing was just right? If the one refund was already initiated and then an amended return was filed, then another refund might need to be initiated...

just a thought

I would say your most likely scenario is that this is an individual accepting returns on behalf of taxpayers who don't have a bank account. I would be awfully wary of accepting these.

Call the customer and ask for an explanation and whether any more such deposits are expected. Stay on the line until you get an answer that suits you.

One of my clients had a customer who filed fraudulent tax returns on behalf of several family members and had the refunds sent to his account. It's a pretty simple form of identity theft that leaves the victims in a real mess.