Some taxpayers do not have to wait six weeks for a refund that cannot be direct deposited. The IRS says filers who qualify for an exception to the direct deposit requirement can select it in their IRS Individual Online Account, and that providing exception eligibility information “will allow the release of a paper check within one to two weeks.”
The route is narrow by design. The agency describes the exceptions as limited and tied to specific situations, and the rest of the story is about who fits and how the choice is made online rather than on the phone.
The exception matters most to someone who filed a return with no bank details, or with details the bank rejected, and then received a CP53E notice. The notice carries a 30-day deadline, and the two ways to answer it lead to very different waits. Choosing the right one depends on whether a bank account or prepaid card is really available to the filer.
Stay ahead of IRS refund news: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. Join the Retirement Money Brief, one email every weekday from Ellen at RetireShield, and we’ll send you our IRS Refund Delay Tracker as a welcome gift.
Get the Brief + the refund tracker →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Who counts as an exception?
The IRS has not published a full list. Its questions and answers on Executive Order 14247, last updated Jan. 27, 2026, say limited exceptions to electronic methods will be made for specific situations such as hardships and legal and procedural requirements. The IRS fact sheet that introduced them, FS-2026-02, says limited exceptions to the paper check phase-out “will also be established.”
Not having a bank account is handled differently. The same questions and answers say taxpayers without one can use alternative electronic options, such as certain mobile apps and prepaid debit cards, and the agency’s modern payments page says those need a routing and account number. Filers for whom none of that is workable are the ones the exception is meant to catch.
The questions and answers describe the CP53E response as giving the IRS banking information “or to explain why such information cannot be provided.” In practice, the explanation is the exception: the filer tells the IRS through the online account why a bank account cannot be used, and the refund is released once the information is in.
How much faster is one to two weeks?
A filer who does nothing waits longer. The IRS says that if there is no response to the CP53E notice and no other issue with the return, the refund is released as a paper check after six weeks. A response that supplies an exception moves the release up to the one-to-two-week window the agency describes.
Mail still adds time. The IRS says that, consistent with prior years, a paper check generally takes one to three weeks longer to process than a direct deposit. So even the faster paper route lands behind a refund sent straight to a bank, and well ahead of a refund left to run out the six weeks.
The exception is not the fastest road, though. For a filer who does have a usable account, the IRS says that once the banking information is updated, the refund is usually issued within seven days. The agency’s CP53E page adds that the refund status can take two to five business days to update, and that a filer gets one chance to add or change the account, with mistakes impossible to correct afterward.
That one-chance rule matters for anyone unsure of an account number. A refund on hold is not a refund denied, and the IRS says a rejected deposit turns into a paper check, so a wrong entry costs time rather than the refund itself. The agency also points filers to the “Where’s My Refund?” tool for next steps and says they do not have to wait for a notice before checking it.
What if the online account will not open?
The IRS says a filer who cannot get into the Individual Online Account can call the toll-free line for help entering an exception to receive a paper check. That is different from bank details: the agency says IRS employees cannot update bank account information over the phone or in person, and its CP53E page says only the online account takes it.
The Jan. 27 questions and answers add that the IRS contacts taxpayers about missing banking information by U.S. mail to the last-known address, not by phone or text. A filer who moved since the return was filed may never see the notice, and the six-week clock runs from the date printed on it either way.
Where the paper check phase-out stands
The exception sits inside a larger change. Executive Order 14247 was signed March 25, 2025, and under FS-2026-02 the IRS generally stopped issuing paper refund checks for individuals on Sept. 30, 2025. The IRS says returns filed without banking information are still accepted and processed, and that providing electronic payment information is voluntary.
Refunds for taxpayers who have died have not changed yet, according to the questions and answers. The IRS says it will keep issuing checks under current practice for those returns, so a surviving spouse or executor is not asked to choose an exception.
Is a refund waiting on a paper check or an exception?
A CP53E notice gives a filer 30 days and two roads, and choosing the wrong road can leave a refund sitting for six weeks. The date printed on the notice is the date that counts, and the IRS has said it will not take bank details by phone.
The IRS Refund Recovery Kit is a 20-page guide with a notice decoder, which explains why a refund stalled and what each IRS letter means, and a refund status tracker spreadsheet for logging each date and step. Part 2 covers the end of paper checks, the change behind the exception.
Get the refund tracker and notice decoder for a held IRS refund →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
