Due to President Trump’s Executive Order 14247, direct deposit will become standard for IRS refunds starting in 2026. All of the language on the IRS pages about this issue makes it seem that there is no way for people to easily continue receiving paper check refunds. Some websites addressing this issue make it seem you can only get a paper check if you have a hardship such as not having a bank account or having a mental illness. And then they encourage people to use prepaid debit cards or certain mobile apps.
If you filed your taxes this year and did not provide the IRS with direct deposit information you will likely receive a CP53E notice. This paper notice that comes by mail has a heading titled: What you need to do. It states, “You have 30 days to provide us:
- A new or updated bank account number.
- Update your direct deposit information by visiting IRS.gov/Account or use the QR code to access your online account.
It also states, “Executive Order 14247, mandates the transition to electronic payments for all Federal disbursements, including tax refunds, except under certain circumstances.
Although this is not stated on the CP53E notice if you ignore this notice your paper check will be issued to you after 6 weeks. This is stated on the bottom of the IRS page linked above.
So it is very easy to opt out. Don’t provide any banking information to the IRS, ignore CP53E and wait 6 weeks.
