Abstract: A system provides a software program that receives tax return information with an anticipated tax refund and taxpayer demographic information and automatically generates optional sell offers with corresponding discounted purchase prices. The sell offers and purchase prices are calculated for a portion of the refund at different levels (high, medium, low), and the system generates the documents that the taxpayer electronically signs to authenticate the offers. The system has a server which evaluates the offers for purchase based on several risk factors and either can select any of the offer levels that satisfy the purchaser's risk requirements. If none of the offer levels satisfy the risk requirements, the server reports back that the offers are rejected. For a selected offer, the system authorizes a payment of the discounted purchase price to the taxpayer when the taxing authority approves the return, before the taxing authority processes the refund for payment.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for heating workpieces that are to be warm forged into parts having integral portions of different configurations, such as reduced portions and upset portions. The corresponding portions of the workpieces are heated to different temperatures in a zone heating apparatus such that the reduced portion is formed before the upset portion is formed when the part is formed from the workpiece in a single forging stroke of a forging press. The zone heating apparatus may include spaced heating coil assemblies, each having a heating coil. Workpieces are pushed through the heating assemblies of the zone heating apparatus in steps, with one portion of each workpiece undergoing more heating cycles than the other portion.