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While many Americans will see their tax refunds increase this season, others are facing delayed payments as the IRS pushes to phase out paper checks.
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats this week sent a letter to Treasury Secretary and Acting IRS Administrator Scott Bessent demanding answers about more than 830,000 IRS notices sent to filers about delayed refunds on paper payment requests.
The letter refers to Notice CP53E, which is sent out by government agencies to request up-to-date banking information for direct deposit refunds. Recipients must provide these details within 30 days through their IRS online account. If you do not, the IRS will issue you a written refund after six weeks.
“After reviewing the IRS notice and calling the IRS line, we found that there is no easy process for these taxpayers to request immediate forgiveness of their refunds with a paper check without waiting at least 10 weeks,” wrote rankings subcommittee members Rep. Danny Davis, R-Ill., and Rep. Terry Sewell, R-Ala.
The IRS announced the phasing out of paper refund checks in September and encouraged filers to start preparing for the change.
Notice CP53E stems from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March 2025 that requires government agencies to transition from paper payments to electronic payments.
According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, during the 2025 filing season, approximately 94% of individual taxpayers chose to receive their refund by direct deposit by providing bank account details on their tax return. The remaining filers, about 10 million taxpayers, received their refunds in paper checks.
“Many of these taxpayers receive paper checks due to institutional, geographic, and religious factors,” National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins said in a blog post updated in late February.
This could include unbanked households, filers residing overseas, people with religious restrictions, victims of domestic violence, and individuals with disabilities, she wrote.
Josh Youngblood, owner of Dallas-based tax firm Youngblood Group, said the change “will penalize people who don’t want to provide direct deposit information.” He is also an Enrolled Agent, a tax license to practice with the IRS.
Youngblood said he always encourages customers to use direct deposit for refunds, but some filers don’t want to send their details to the IRS.
What you need to know if you receive a CP53E notification
If you have a refund due and you have not provided direct deposit details for this season’s return, you can expect to receive a CP53E notification.
Filers cannot resolve the issue by calling the IRS. The only way to provide bank account details is through an IRS online account, the agency said.
If a customer receives a notification and wants to update their banking information, “even with a power of attorney, we cannot do so on your behalf,” Youngblood said.
If your details are incorrect and your bank rejects your deposit, the IRS will send you a paper check, so be sure to double-check your information before updating your account.
Once you update your account, your refund details will appear online within two to five days, according to the IRS. You can also check the status of your payment using the Where’s My Refund tool.
