"If you file a joint return and check the box on line 74a and attach Form 8888 or fill in lines 74b through 74d, you are allowing your spouse to receive the refund on your behalf. This cannot be changed later." Somewhat incoherent language (it is missing the clause "and your name is not on that account") but it seems to be saying that that is the legal equivalent of endorsing a check. But there's more>
There are two interesting caveats:
1) "Some financial institutions will not allow a joint refund to be deposited into an individual account. If the direct deposit is rejected, a check will be sent instead.The IRS is not responsible if a financial institution rejects a direct deposit." The question then is, how common is this and is it possible to check? Of course in many cases it might be a no lose proposition - if the check is rejected well they are no worse off than they were at teh start. The second caveat is really interesting:2) "The IRS is not responsible for a lost refund if you enter the wrong account information.You can check with your financial institution to get the correct routing and account numbers and make sure your deposit will be accepted" Now a random mistake will probably be to a non-existant account. But teh more interesting questions is - will such a deposit - if to a real account - usually be accepted? And is it legal to do this on purpose.
That is, could a tax preparer arrange to get paid that way? You can now split the deposit 3 ways. So how about a little for a tax prepaper? Is the situation such that:
A) This would be OK with the IRS, but not with most banks
B) It is OK with both the IRS and most banks
c) It is not OK - neither with the IRS nor with most banks - but the IRS puts in that caution about money being sent to the wrong account just to take care of all possibilities.