Taxpayers who filed their 2025 returns without providing bank account information now face a new obstacle: the IRS will hold their refund for up to six weeks before mailing a paper check. The freeze is part of the agency’s broader push to eliminate paper-based payments, a shift driven by Executive Order 14247. For millions of filers who rely on mailed checks, the delay could mean weeks of waiting that did not exist in prior filing seasons.
How the IRS refund freeze works for filers without bank details
The mechanics are straightforward but consequential. When a return arrives without direct deposit information, the IRS will still process it, but it will temporarily freeze the refund until the taxpayer either submits bank account details or explicitly requests a paper check. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS, confirmed this procedure in an April 2026 tax tip on direct deposit refunds, describing the hold as a deliberate pause rather than a processing error.
If a filer does not respond to the IRS notice within the agency’s response window, a paper check is issued six weeks after the notice date, according to an IRS newsroom release on the current filing season. That six-week clock starts only after the notice goes out, not after the return is filed, which means the total wait from filing to payment can stretch even longer. The IRS has separately noted that paper and mailed refund processing already carries waits of six or more weeks, and internal processing steps for manual refunds can take 4 to 6 weeks just for a transaction code to post, as detailed in the agency’s Internal Revenue Manual.
For taxpayers, the result can be confusing. Their online account may show that the return is accepted and the refund approved, yet no money arrives. Instead, the IRS sends a letter explaining that the refund is on hold pending bank information or a confirmation that the taxpayer still wants a paper check. Only after that correspondence is handled does the six-week countdown toward a mailed check begin.
Tax professionals say this creates two distinct timelines. Filers who include direct deposit details at the outset continue to see refunds within the typical 21-day window, barring additional review. Those who omit bank information, however, are effectively routed into a slower, paper-based track that can easily double or triple the wait.
Executive Order 14247 and the end of paper refund checks
The refund freeze did not emerge in a vacuum. Executive Order 14247, signed in March 2025, directed federal agencies to modernize payment systems and move away from paper-based disbursements. The order cited cost savings, fraud reduction, and processing speed as core justifications. In response, the IRS issued guidance outlining how it would comply, including a gradual phaseout of routine paper refund checks and a default preference for electronic payments.
The agency has stated plainly that it is phasing out paper refund checks. Direct deposit, the IRS says, is the fastest and most secure option, and future systems are being built around that assumption. While paper checks remain available by law, the new freeze policy makes clear they will increasingly be treated as an exception that requires extra time and administrative steps.
Consumer advocates have raised concerns that the transition may hit certain groups hardest: older taxpayers who are less comfortable sharing banking details, unbanked households, and people in rural areas with limited access to financial institutions. For these filers, a longer wait for a paper check is not a matter of convenience; it can affect rent, utilities, and other essential bills that often depend on timely refunds.
What taxpayers can do to avoid or shorten delays
Taxpayers who have not yet filed can avoid the new freeze entirely by including routing and account numbers for a checking or savings account on their return. Those who already filed without bank details should watch their mail closely for an IRS notice and respond as soon as possible, either by providing account information through the channels listed in the letter or by confirming that they still want a paper check.
Filers can track the status of their payment using the IRS’s online tools for refund information, which show when a return is received, when a refund is approved, and when it is sent. However, the tools may not clearly explain that a freeze is in place pending a response to a mailed notice, so taxpayers should not rely solely on digital updates if they know they did not provide bank details.
For those who cannot or do not wish to use direct deposit, the key is planning. Building in an extra month or more of lead time for a paper refund can help prevent budget shocks. Tax professionals also recommend filing earlier in the season, when IRS processing backlogs tend to be smaller, to reduce the risk that a freeze plus normal mail delays will push payments well into summer.
The IRS’s shift away from paper checks is unlikely to reverse. For now, taxpayers still have a choice, but the new refund freeze makes that choice more consequential. Providing bank information turns a refund into a relatively quick electronic transaction; declining to do so may increasingly mean accepting a longer, more uncertain wait for a paper check to arrive.
