After someone stole my tax refund 2 years ago, I found the best way to protect myself is also the easiest

Lamar Salter/Business Insider

Tax Day 2019 is Monday, April 15.
I already filed my tax return using H&R Block — it took about an hour and I should get my tax refund within 21 days.
Filing taxes electronically with direct deposit ensures your tax refund gets to your bank account quickly and safely, the IRS says.
Two years ago, my tax refund was sent to my house via paper check and ended up getting stolen.

It’s early February — a full two-and-a-half months before tax day — and I’ve already filed my taxes using H&R Block.

The IRS started accepting tax returns on Monday, January 28. It feels great to have checked that daunting task off my to-do list, especially since should be getting both my state tax refund and federal tax refund within three weeks of the day I filed.

Until last year, I had been using my parents’ accountant to file my taxes and he opted for the traditional pen-and-paper method rather than filing electronically. In the spring of 2017, I was waiting for my tax refund to come via paper check in the mail for about two months before I realized it must have been stolen. It was, unfortunately, and I had to file a claim with the IRS.

Last year, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I used H&R Block’s free tax filing service to file electronically and request direct deposit — the method recommended by the IRS if you want to get your refund sooner. The process was so easy that I used H&R Block again this year.

My financial situation isn’t too complicated: The only documents I needed were my 2018 W-2, 2017 tax return (which H&R Block saved from last year), Form 8889 for my Health Savings Account, and 1099-INT, the document you download from your bank to report any interest income from a savings account.

A few days before the IRS began accepting tax returns, I used H&R Block’s free tax calculator to estimate my tax refund. Knowing I would soon get a nice boost to my savings account pushed me to file as soon as possible.

Filing my tax return only took an hour and my refund will be deposited into two separate accounts

The actual process to file your tax return consists of answering a bunch of questions and uploading your W-2, or manually imputing the few numbers they ask for.

H&R Block made the entire process easy to navigate and even had helpful explainers positioned along the way to minimize errors and help me get the credits and deductions I may be eligible for.

I was answering questions I already knew the answers to — Do you have dependents? Did you pay health insurance last year? Do you own property? — so it didn’t require too much thought. Honestly, it felt like I was filing out a college or job application, except I didn’t have to write an essay or cover letter … and I was rewarded with the promise of payday at the end.

To be clear, I only have income from one job and earned a small amount of interest from a high-yield savings account. I don’t have freelance work or any other earned income sources, so my experience was as straightforward as it gets.

I submitted both my state and federal returns feeling super accomplished and requested direct deposit for both refunds.

One of the cool things about requesting your refund via direct deposit is you can choose up to three accounts and decide how much goes to each. I set up my state refund to go to my checking account to cover some basic necessities. My federal refund, which is bigger, will be deposited into my high-yield savings account that doubles as an emergency fund.

It took me exactly one hour to complete the entire process. I submitted both my state and federal returns feeling super accomplished, and I didn’t have to spend a dime doing it. In turn, I’ll be rewarded with a refund that’s equal to about one paycheck. That’s a satisfying trade-off, if you ask me.

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Source: Business Insider