Can I request for a tax refund to be split between multiple accounts or people?
The IRS allows taxpayers to allocate their refund amount across multiple accounts in different financial institutions with no extra delay.
Taxpayers who choose the direct deposit option for receiving their tax refund can split their refund. This allows them to specify up to three different accounts from three different US financial institutions for the IRS to deposit their refund into. These accounts can include checking, savings, and even certain retirement accounts.
There are five options to direct your tax refund:
- Split your direct deposit refund among two or three different accounts,
- Direct deposit your refund into a single checking or savings account,
- Provide a routing and account number associated with your reloadable prepaid cards,
- Buy up to $5,000 in US Series I Savings Bonds with your refund,
- Receive your refund in a paper check.
The primary requirement is that each designated account must be in the taxpayer’s name.
How to split your tax refund
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To organise the split refund, taxpayers are required to use IRS Form 8888, titled “Allocation of Refund (Including Savings Bond Purchases).” This form acts as a guide for specifying the amount or percentage of the refund that should be directed to each designated account. Taxpayers must attach this form to their federal income tax return when filing.
The form not only allows for the allocation of funds to multiple accounts but also provides options for purchasing US savings bonds with a portion of the refund. There are no extra delays when splitting a refund, and the IRS remins filers that all electronic filings will get faster refunds compared to paper returns.