THE IRS will begin to phase out paper check payments on September 30, which will impact things like Social Security for millions of Americans.
It marks a huge shift to an electronic payment system that has been touted as safer, but is being criticized by lawmakers.
Electronic payments from the IRS will be widely introduced soon[/caption]
In a recent IRS press release, it was said taxpayers and Social Security recipients should continue to use their existing forms and procedures for now until the updated documents are published.
It was also confirmed that more detailed guidance for the 2026 tax filing season will be published later.
The change means that most refunds will be made digital, too.
Refunds paid electronically will take less than 21 days to be issued, while mail refunds could take six weeks or longer.
In an email to The US Sun, a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration (SSA) claimed that this payment change would only effect a small number of Americans.
They said: “Less than one percent of Social Security Administration beneficiaries currently receive paper checks.”
“SSA is proactively contacting those beneficiaries to alert them about the change and the process to enroll in direct deposit or receive Direct Express® cards.”
The press release further notes that paper checks are 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen or altered when compared to electronic payments.
During the 2025 tax filing season, the IRS issued more than 93.5 million tax refunds to individual income tax filers.
Nearly 87 million of those were delivered through electronic direct deposits.
The IRS said that only 7% of refund recipients received it by mail.
EXCEPTIONS
As reported by CBS News, the US government is taking a slight step back from its non-paper plans.
Social Security recipients are being told about the new electronic payment system, but are not being forced to sign up.
There are also some exceptions to the rule, like if a Social Security recipient is facing financial hardship.
Majority of Americans plan out tax refund spending half a YEAR in advance
A new study conducted by Talker Research has found a third of Americans plan out what to spend their tax refund on half of a year in advance.
The new poll of 2,000 U.S. taxpayers found 79% believe they’ll get some sort of refund this year, and many of them have already planned out what to spend it on.
A majority (52%) said their tax refund is an important part of their budgeting plans, and 77% plan to spend their refund on necessities.
Chief among necessities were bills like rent (52%), groceries and essential items (44%) and credit card debt (37%).
Over half (56%) of those spending their refund money on credit card debt are specifically targeting their holiday season purchases.
Meanwhile, 8% are planning to spend their refund on luxuries.
They’re spending their refund on new clothes (37%), entertainment (28%) and new phones (26%).
Commissioned by TaxSlayer and conducted by Talker Research, the study found the average person hopes to receive roughly $1,700 in tax refund money this year.
A fifth (22%) believe they’ll end up with more money this year than last, while 26% believe the opposite. Half (51%) expect to receive about the same amount.
Last year, 12% said they got a larger-than-expected tax refund, while 20% recalled getting less than what they expected.
Many respondents expecting to receive more this year said it was due to withholding more money on their W-2, making more money in the past year and having a newborn.
And those expecting to receive less shared potential causes why: losing their job, owing back taxes, children aging into adulthood and increased tax rates.
Survery by Talker Research.
Those without any access to electronic payment methods can also choose to continue with paper checks.
This will be approved by the US Treasury on a case-by-case basis.
The US Sun did reach out to the SSA for further clarification earlier this month, but did not hear back.
PAYMENT CRITICISM
The government’s paper plans have been met with criticism by some high profile lawmakers.
Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren told Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano why she disagreed with the plan.
She argued that while a small fraction may use paper checks, this still accounts for hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Warren claimed: “There are about 600,000 Americans who still receive their paper checks — it’s a small fraction of people who receive Social Security payments, but it’s a population that often needs checks through paper.”
Switching the large majority of Americans to paper checks would save it money in the long term.
Paper checks cost roughly $0.50 each compared to $0.15 for an electronic payment transfer, the SSA had previously said.
