About one-third of all funds in the accounts come indirectly from other sources, such as individual income tax payments. In recent years, an increasing share of all payments received by remit option depositories have been transferred electronically.
Electronic payments accomplish three objectives.
First, the Internal Revenue Service has much less paperwork to process. Second, the Treasury is able to obtain data more quickly on the amounts of funds transferred to its accounts at the Federal Reserve Banks. Individual income tax payments do not go directly to remit option depositories. The lockbox banks process the checks and forward the payments to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Treasury calls, which normally are announced in advance and specify the date of the withdrawal and the percentage of the balance to be withdrawn, allow funds to move back into private hands as a consequence of government spending.