Refunds delayed for missing bank info
The IRS is sending CP53E notices instead of automatic paper checks when bank info is missing, a move that can delay refunds by weeks for affected filers. (centraloregondaily.com) Roughly 830,000 taxpayers have received refund‑delay notices tied to paper-check requests, so e‑filing and double‑checking bank details now can avoid weeks of waiting. (ibtimes.co.uk) (thechiefleader.com)
A lot of taxpayers expected the Internal Revenue Service to mail a refund check if bank information was missing. In 2026, many are getting a CP53E notice instead, and that notice can add weeks before any money moves. (irs.gov) The new notice gives you 30 days to log in to your Internal Revenue Service online account and add or update one bank account for direct deposit. If you do nothing, the agency says it will issue a paper check only after 6 weeks. (irs.gov) This is not just for typos in routing numbers. The Taxpayer Advocate Service says refunds can also be frozen when a return is filed with no direct deposit information at all, or when a bank rejects the deposit. (taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov) The old system was simpler for many people: if direct deposit failed, a paper check often followed automatically. The Taxpayer Advocate Service says most rejected direct deposits are now frozen and will not automatically be reissued as paper checks without taxpayer action. (taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov) The policy shift traces back to Executive Order 14247, signed on March 25, 2025, which directed the federal government to move toward electronic payments. The Internal Revenue Service says the order changed the direct deposit options tied to refunds and pushed the agency away from routine paper checks. (whitehouse.gov) (irs.gov) The Internal Revenue Service says you cannot fix CP53E by calling and reading your account number to an employee. The agency says bank updates for this notice can only be made through an online account, and you get one chance to enter the information correctly. (irs.gov) If that one updated deposit is rejected too, the Taxpayer Advocate Service says you do not get another chance to change bank information. At that point, the refund process falls back to a paper check path after more delay. (taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov) (irs.gov) The scale is large enough to show this is not a niche paperwork glitch. Reporting in March said the Internal Revenue Service was on track to send more than 830,000 CP53E notices to taxpayers who wanted paper checks or did not include bank account details. (freep.com) The safest move now is boring but effective: file electronically, check the routing number twice, and make sure the account is open and in your name before you submit the return. The Taxpayer Advocate Service says those steps are the best way to avoid a frozen refund under the 2026 rules. (taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov)
