Money Shots: Your tax refund, made to order

Posted Mar 27th 2007 5:45PM by Brandon Barker
Filed under: Other Issues

We live in a great country.

If you want a kosher Dunkin Donut, you got it. If you want to spend $15 for a Bed Head, you can. And if you want to lay on a hammock in your neighbor's yard naked, last time I checked, it's still a free country.

If only the IRS would loosen up a little. In fact, some folks are so wary of this pitiless branch of government, they won't even claim their refunds: According to a new AOL Money & Finance feature, unclaimed refunds exceeding $2.2 billion are sitting in the IRS coffers.

And which cities are the most afraid to file? Based on Intuit reports, the ultimate Tax Procrastinating States list has been released. If you're from Houston, you win!

But wait. Maybe the IRS has loosened up a little. As Kiplinger Editorial Director Kevin McCormally tells it, "this year the IRS is taking a cue from Burger King and letting you have your refund your way." What he means is, in the past you could either get your refund as a single check or as a single electronic deposit. Now you can get it direct-deposited into three different accounts. Want to see how?

Click the video player below to find out how:

B. Brandon is the author of the novel Operation EMU.

Tags: IRS, Tax Returns, TaxReturns