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Want Your Tax Refund Sooner?…
Choose Direct Deposit!

So, you're being smarter this year by filing your tax return using some of the fresh, new electronic filing options the Internal Revenue Service is offering… Why not be really smart and check that "Choose Electronic Payment" box when designating how the IRS should send your refund?

Did you know that an all-paper process of filing, and opting to receive your refund by check through the mail might take as long as 6-8 weeks? Filing your return electronically using E-File, Tele-File or Free-File, which the IRS recently announced, could cut several weeks off that time. Why not choose the most efficient way and have your refund sent electronically to your checking or savings account? With Direct Deposit, you could have your money in 10-14 days, rather than 4-8 weeks!

"Over the past 25 years, millions of people have enjoyed the safety, reliability, and convenience of electronic payments. Direct Deposit has an unblemished track record. Electronic payments can't be lost, stolen, forged or altered," said Richard L. Gregg, Commissioner, Financial Management Service (FMS), the Treasury bureau that sends tax refunds.

In fiscal year 2002, FMS disbursed more than 109 million refund payments, totaling nearly $272.5 billion. Forty million of those payments were electronic payments delivered right into the recipients' bank accounts, leaving nearly 70 million recipients waiting 6-8 weeks to get a check in the mail.

Tax refunds aren't the only payments FMS disburses. FMS also sends out Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans' and other federal benefit payments, as well as some federal salary payments. Of the 922 million payments FMS disbursed in fiscal year 2002, there were more than $69.1 million in forged checks, $2.2 million in counterfeit checks, and $4.3 million in altered checks. That's trouble for recipients and government alike.

The chance of having a problem with the delivery of a check is more than 20 times greater, and if a problem does occur-lost, stolen, or forged checks-then it takes weeks to resolve a check issue, whereas a problem with an electronic payment can be resolved within hours. Thousands of financial crimes could be prevented each year, resulting in savings to consumers and the financial services industry.

"Join us in the 21st Century. Choose Direct Deposit! It's convenient, safe, secure, and it's free," said Gregg.