Money Transfers for Tax Refunds
AssigneeThe Western Union Company
InventorsPatricia M. McKernan, Ramona Johnson, Christian J. Trujillo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims22
(canceled)
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.
A system for providing a tax refund to a taxpayer for a tax return, the system comprising:
- One or more processors;
- and
- a memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the processors and having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
- receive a funds request indicating a payment vehicle in which a first portion of the tax refund is to be disbursed;
- create an account identifier comprising:
- an indication of the taxpayer;
- cause the account identifier to be provided to a first government entity, as a direct deposit target for the tax refund corresponding to the tax return;
- receive a direct deposit from a second government entity, wherein the direct deposit indicates the account identifier;
- and
- provide a first portion of the tax refund to a recipient using the indicated payment vehicle.
A computer program product residing on a non-transitory processor-readable medium for providing a tax refund to a taxpayer for a tax return, the computer program product comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to:
- receive a funds request indicating a payment vehicle in which a first portion of the tax refund is to be disbursed;
- create an account identifier comprising:
- an indication of the taxpayer;
- cause the account identifier to be provided to a first government entity, as a direct deposit target for the tax refund corresponding to the tax return;
- receive a direct deposit from a second government entity, wherein the direct deposit indicates the account identifier;
- and
- provide a first portion of the tax refund to a recipient using the indicated payment vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.