In an executive order, President Trump directed the U.S. Treasury Secretary to develop a plan over the next 180 days to phase out the use of paper checks. This would apply to both the IRS’s payments of tax refunds as well as taxpayers’ tax payments to the IRS.
According to the White House fact sheet accompanying the executive order’s release, effective September 30, 2025, the IRS will cease issuing paper check tax refunds. However, it is unclear when the mandate that all tax payments be made to the IRS electronically would go into effect. We will have to await further guidance from the IRS and the U.S. Department of Treasury as to when and how the electronic tax payment mandate will be implemented.
The executive order does authorize exceptions from the mandate in certain circumstances, such as when individuals do not have access to banking services or electronic payment services, or for certain emergency payments where electronic disbursement would cause undue hardship. The order also authorizes the Treasury Secretary to identify other circumstances in which exceptions would be allowed.
We will provide updates when additional guidance is issued.
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