What to Do If Your Bank Account Number is Incorrect for Your Tax Refund

Milford, NH Resident Starts to Panic

Most Americans have their tax refund deposited directly into a bank account. This saves time in receiving your money and eliminates the potential of the refund getting lost or further delayed in the mail. But what if you erroneously provide the banking information for your refund to be deposited, or the account number has changed? If the IRS tries to deposit your tax refund into a bank account that does not exist or cannot be validated, a paper refund check will automatically be issued and mailed. This process can delay the refund significantly, oftentimes as much as ten weeks from the date of the attempted deposit.

A Milford resident realized that she had incorrectly written her bank account number on her tax return for receiving a refund. Concerned that she might never see her money, she contacted the team at Merrimack Tax Associates for help.

When Your Tax Return Has Been Accepted By the IRS, There is No Way to Change the Deposit Information

As soon as your tax return has been accepted by the IRS, you will no longer be able to make changes to the bank account where the refund will be deposited. If the account does not exist, the refund will automatically be converted to a check when it cannot be processed by the bank. Even if the refund has not been processed yet and you are able to change the information, the IRS will only be able to issue the return as a paper check. They will not be able to update the bank account for direct deposit after the return has already been filed. This is why it is so important to make sure you are entering the bank information correctly before filing your tax return.

Beyond the additional time that it will take to receive your refund via a physical check in the mail, there is an additional delay since the IRS will first try to deposit the money into the provided account. You can track your IRS refund online at https://www.irs.gov/wheres-my-refund This will show when a deposit is attempted, and a paper check has been issued instead.

The Milford resident was pleased to hear that she would still receive her tax refund. Now she just has to wait extra time for processing and mail delivery. She has already made sure that her bank account information is updated for future tax filings.