The IRS paper check phase out 2025 is officially here, and if you aren’t prepared, your tax refund could be stuck in limbo.They don’t want to send out paper checks anymore. If you sent in a return without direct deposit information on it then the IRS will set a freeze on the refund and send out a CP53E notice asking for the routing number and account number for the direct deposit. This will delay your refund by weeks.
Typically, IRS letters take 14 days to reach your mailbox. Once you receive it, you’ll likely need to pass a “high-risk” verification with an agent, so have your W-2s, 1099s, and tax return ready. The IRS notice CPE 53E is similar to other CP53 notices that require extra precautions.
Why Direct Deposit Isn’t Always “Faster”
Direct deposit can be faster but sometimes it isn’t. If someone is using an account that they aren’t on it’s up to the financial institution to either accept the deposit or reject it back to the IRS. Many times boyfriends would use a girlfriend’s bank account and this causes nothing but trouble. And if the person filed with tax software or a preparer the preparer or software provided will direct the direct deposit to a temporary account and they deduct their fee and send the remainder to your bank. This is where it gets sticky too. If your account information was wrong, say you screwed up a digit of the account number it’s going to get rejected back to the originator, the preparer or the software company. Them you have to call them so they can get you your money.
Can You Still Get a Paper Check?
Some people never wanted direct deposit in the first place and if you fight it long enough they will eventually send out a paper check. But this will be weeks and weeks in the future.
This seems rather stupid considering they will send you a CP53E letter and could have just as easily sent you your check. But remember any letter coming from the IRS with letters “CP” at the front means it’s a computer-generated letter. But also when you respond to that letter it’s going to a person who will have to then input that information unless they provide some online site to upload it. This will cause a lot of problems for people. So just be aware of this.
The Truth About IRS Phone Support and Service Levels
If you do end up calling the IRS over this, you will have trouble getting through. Recently, I was told they have less than a 20% level of service for the phones. Hopefully that goes up during filing season. But many IRS customer service agents right now are on the phones many for a few hours and then they work amended returns. I wish I could tell you to call early or late but it’s really the luck of the draw if you get someone on the phone. They lost about a third of their staff with mass staff reductions and they haven’t hired a soul in the remote call sites. Who knows maybe staff reductions will continue?
