Intuit teams up with hip-hop king Russell Simmons

Intuit has teamed with hip-hop impresario and business executive Russell Simmons to offer a new tax filing service aimed at young taxpayers.

Using the new service, customers can prepare and electronically file their taxes using Intuit's TurboTax software and receive any refunds within 10 days, Intuit said Thursday. The refunds can be deposited into a bank account or a Rush Visa card from UniRush Financial Services, a company founded by Simmons. By using the Rush Visa card, people can eliminate check-cashing fees, according Simmons.

"A number of young adults either do not have bank accounts, or are at risk of falling into credit card debt," Simmons said in a statement. "Through this alliance, we are offering them, along with our existing base of nearly half a million cardholders, the opportunity to e-file their tax returns and receive their refunds via direct deposit onto the Rush card."

The service, which is available through a new Web site called TTRefund.com, costs $5.95. The fee for Visa card activation is $19.95.

Intuit has been looking for ways to boost sales of its tax products. The company announced Wednesday that season-to-date sales for its tax products and services had declined by 1 percent compared with a year earlier.

Intuit is one of several software companies partnering with the Internal Revenue Service to facilitate electronic filing of tax returns. These companies are targeting their services at different segments of tax-paying citizens.