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The IRS Is Killing the Paper Check. Here’s Why That’s a Glimpse of a Smarter Future.If yo... The IRS Is Killing the Paper Check. Here’s Why That’s a Glimpse of a Smarter Future.
If you’ve been on social media lately, you might have seen whispers of a new $1,390 stimulus payment from the IRS. It’s a compelling story—a little bit of relief in a world of high inflation. It’s also completely false, a piece of digital flotsam recycled from the chaos of the pandemic. This kind of misinformation thrives in the cracks of our outdated systems, where official processes are so slow and opaque that a viral rumor can feel more real than reality.
But in the midst of this noise, something genuinely transformative is happening at the IRS, and it’s getting far less attention. On March 25, 2025, an executive order was signed that will officially phase out paper tax refund checks, starting with the 2025 tax year.
When I first heard the news, I honestly just sat back in my chair for a moment. It wasn't the policy itself that struck me, but the signal it sends. For decades, the federal government has operated on an infrastructure that felt more at home in the 1970s than the 2020s. This isn't just about killing the paper check. This is about laying the first few feet of track for a completely new kind of railway—one that could redefine our relationship with government services altogether.
Beyond the Bureaucratic Shuffle
Let’s be clear: the paper check is an artifact. It’s a technology that belongs in a museum next to the fax machine and the floppy disk. For an institution as critical as the IRS, continuing to rely on it is like running a modern logistics empire using horse-drawn carriages. It’s not just slow and inefficient; it’s fundamentally insecure. The Treasury Department itself notes that a paper check is a staggering 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen, or fraudulently altered than an electronic payment.
The IRS has called paper processing its “kryptonite,” and it’s not hard to see why. Every year, millions of Americans wait anxiously for a small paper rectangle to travel hundreds of miles through a complex postal system, hoping it doesn’t get lost, swiped from a mailbox, or sent to the wrong address. If something goes wrong, the resolution process is a bureaucratic nightmare.
Executive Order 14247 aims to finally end this. The plan is to transition all federal disbursements to electronic payments. This is all part of a move toward digitizing government—in simpler terms, making sure federal money moves as fast and securely as a Venmo payment instead of a postcard. This isn't a minor tweak; it's a paradigm shift. Imagine a system where refunds are issued in days, not weeks. A system where the possibility of your check being stolen and cashed by a scammer is virtually eliminated. That’s the promise here.
But building a better future isn’t just about deploying new technology. It’s about deploying it with wisdom and empathy.
The Human Algorithm
Of course, progress is never a straight line. As we build this new digital infrastructure, we can’t afford to abandon those who aren't ready—or able—to get on board. About 10 million taxpayers still receive paper checks, and they don't do it just for nostalgia.
For the 5.6 million American households without a bank account, direct deposit is a non-starter. For certain Amish and Mennonite communities, deeply held religious beliefs preclude them from using electronic banking. For a victim of domestic violence, a shared online bank account can be a tool of control and surveillance, making a paper check a lifeline to financial independence. Then there are Americans living abroad, or those with disabilities who face unique barriers to digital access.
This is the real test of a 21st-century system—it’s not just about pushing bits and bytes faster, it’s about designing with compassion, building off-ramps and exceptions for the millions of people who don't fit the standard model, ensuring that progress doesn't just steamroll over the most vulnerable among us.
This is where I see the most hope. The executive order explicitly allows for exceptions, and organizations from the Taxpayer Advocate Service to the American Bar Association are already working with the IRS to build a system with a human touch. The proposals are smart: create clear, accessible waivers for those who need them. Explore issuing Treasury-backed debit cards as a secure alternative. Use this moment to expand access to low-fee bank accounts.
This isn’t a roadblock; it’s the most critical design challenge of the entire project. How can we use this transition not just to modernize payments, but to actively improve financial inclusion? Could this be the catalyst for creating secure, government-backed digital wallets that finally bring the unbanked into the modern economy? The goal shouldn’t be to just replicate the old system online, but to build something fundamentally better and more equitable.
The Dawn of a Responsive Government
It's easy to dismiss this as a boring administrative change. But I believe it's something more. This is the beginning of a nervous system for the country.
Think back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the economy ground to a halt, Congress passed a relief package, but getting that money into the hands of desperate families was a logistical nightmare of staggering proportions. Checks were delayed for weeks, sent to old addresses, and targeted by fraudsters. The government had the will to act, but it lacked the mechanism to do so with speed and precision.
The shift to a fully digital, direct-deposit-first system changes that. It creates a secure, real-time financial pipeline between the U.S. Treasury and the American people. The next time a national crisis hits—be it a natural disaster, a public health emergency, or an economic downturn—the government won’t have to spend weeks printing and mailing paper. It will have the ability to deliver targeted relief directly to millions of Americans in a matter of hours.
This is a change as fundamental as the shift from a barter economy to standardized currency. It creates a common platform that enables faster, more complex, and more secure transactions. We are building the rails for a government that is not just powerful, but responsive. One that can adapt, react, and support its citizens at the speed of the modern world. That’s the real promise hidden inside this seemingly simple policy change. And it's a future that's long overdue.