Overview
- House Ways and Means Committee Democrats pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with a second letter about roughly 1.4 million IRS notices tied to the move away from paper refund checks.
- The IRS CP53E notice tells recipients to add or update bank details in their IRS online account within 30 days or the agency will mail a paper check after six weeks, which Democrats say could stretch waits to about 10 weeks.
- The change flows from a March 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump requiring federal payments to go electronic, with the IRS keeping limited exceptions and options like prepaid debit cards or digital wallets for unbanked taxpayers.
- Most refunds from e-filed returns arrive in fewer than 21 days with direct deposit, while mailed returns and some claims involving the earned income tax credit or the additional child tax credit take longer to process.
- IRS data show the average refund reached $3,571 as of March 20, which heightens the impact for families counting on that money and is driving heavy use of the Where’s My Refund tool that requires your SSN or ITIN, filing status, and exact refund amount.