No Joint Bank Account

What do you do when a joint return has a refund, but the taxpayers don't have a joint bank account? This is happening more and more with young people.

1) If they give you bank information for only one person, do you tell them to check with their bank to see if the bank will allow the direct deposit of a joint refund into a solo account?

2) If the bank will not allow the deposit, do you just do a mailed refund?

3) Do you skip the above and use the bank information for the one person and tell the client the refund may be flipped to a check if their bank will not allow the joint refund to go into a solo account? Which of course will cause a delay of their refund.

I'm tired of wasting my time on this issue and want to figure out the most efficient way to handle these situations.

Thanks for your feedback.

I haven't seen a paper refund check in over a decade. How are they written? Are they "Or" or "And"? If it is "Or" - or nothing - then most tellers will accept it, properly endorsed. If it is "And" they should not accept it into a sole account.

IRS Policy

You can request a direct deposit of your income tax refund into an account that is in your name only. You can also arrange for a direct deposit into an account that is owned by your spouse, provided that you filed a joint income tax return. You can also ask for a direct deposit of your income tax refund into a joint account that you are listed as an owner of, regardless of your filing status. You cannot request a direct deposit of an income tax refund into an account that is not owned by either you or your spouse, such as another relative's account.
Your Bank's Policy

While the IRS gives you the option of depositing a joint return into an individual bank account, check with your bank to make certain that it will accept direct deposits this way. Some banks require a refund from a joint income tax return to be deposited into a joint bank account. If you do not check with your bank in advance, it could refuse the refund, causing it to be returned to the IRS. The IRS would then write you a paper check, and your refund would be delayed.

Atsman - Thank you for your post which spells out exactly what I understood to be the situation with joint refunds into a sole account. I am wondering how other tax preparers are handling this situation with their clients.

If they give me an account and it is in one name only, I just enter it. I have never had an issue.