To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow taxpayers to elect to receive certain replacement refunds electronically.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsor: Mr. Issa
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Ms. Malliotakis (for herself, Ms. Sewell, and Mr. Kustoff) introduced …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act modernizes how taxpayers can receive replacement tax refund checks from the IRS. Currently, if a taxpayer's refund check is lost or stolen, the IRS sends a replacement by paper check. This bill requires the Treasury Department to create new regulations within 6 months that allow taxpayers to choose to receive replacement refunds electronically through direct deposit instead.
Who Benefits and How
Taxpayers who have lost or had their refund checks stolen benefit by getting faster, more secure access to their replacement refunds. Direct deposit eliminates the risk of mail theft and reduces the time it takes to receive funds. Financial institutions also benefit modestly through increased direct deposit transaction volume, though the impact is minimal given the relatively small number of replacement refunds issued annually.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Internal Revenue Service faces the primary burden of developing and implementing new systems and procedures to support this electronic option. They must create regulations, update their refund processing systems, and train staff—all within a 6-month deadline. This represents an implementation cost borne by the IRS's operational budget, though the long-term cost savings from reduced paper check processing may offset this initial investment.
Key Provisions
- Amends Section 6402 of the Internal Revenue Code to add a new subsection establishing the electronic replacement refund option
- Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe implementing regulations within 6 months of enactment
- Makes the electronic direct deposit option voluntary—taxpayers can elect to use it but are not required to do so
- Applies only to replacement refunds (when the original paper check was lost or stolen), not to initial refunds
- Takes effect immediately upon enactment, with the 6-month clock starting for regulation development
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Allows taxpayers to elect to receive replacement tax refund checks electronically via direct deposit instead of receiving a paper check when the original refund check was lost or stolen
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Modernize IRS processes to reduce fraud and improve taxpayer convenience by providing digital alternatives to paper checks for replacement refunds"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Taxpayers who have lost or had refund checks stolen
- IRS (reduced check processing costs)
- Financial institutions (increased direct deposit usage)
Likely Burden Bearers
- IRS (must develop new regulations and systems within 6 months)
- Treasury Department (implementation costs)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology