7th August 2025: A new U.S. policy to modernise federal payments, including IRS tax refunds, may unintentionally block millions of international taxpayers from receiving their money, warns Pramod Kumar Siva, International Tax Expert at Texas A&M University School of Law.
Under Executive Order 14247, signed by President Donald Trump on March 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury must stop issuing paper cheques for federal payments—including tax refunds—by September 30, 2025. While the goal is to reduce fraud and speed up payments, the change could cause major problems for non-resident Indians (NRIs), foreign students, professionals, and U.S. citizens living abroad.
Currently, the IRS only allows refunds to be deposited into U.S.-based bank accounts. Many overseas taxpayers who don’t have such accounts rely on paper cheques mailed to them. With paper cheques being phased out and no clear alternative announced, those taxpayers may be left without a way to receive their refunds.
“Global taxpayers need certainty, not confusion, “said Pramod Kumar Siva. We’re urging the Treasury to provide alternatives like prepaid debit cards or international wire transfers. The technology already exists. Now it’s about using it to include—not exclude—millions of overseas filers.”
Siva and other tax experts are formally advising the U.S. Treasury to introduce flexible options, such as SWIFT/IBAN international transfers, a transition grace period, and refund cards for those who don’t have U.S. bank accounts.
Without quick action, many global taxpayers may face long delays—or lose access to their refunds entirely.