FEDERALcongressional record

Recovery of Stolen Checks Act (H.R. 1155)

Original title: RECOVERY OF STOLEN CHECKS ACT

March 31, 2025

taxation fraud_prevention irs mail_theft financial_security

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The Frame

What this does

Taxpayers who have had their tax refund checks stolen will gain the option to receive their replacement funds via direct deposit, potentially reducing the time and risk associated with receiving replacement payments by mail.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Taxpayers

Taxpayers who have had their refund checks stolen will have the option to choose direct deposit for replacement payments.

Internal Revenue Service

The agency is required to develop and implement new procedures for issuing replacement refunds via direct deposit within 6 months.

What changed

Last recorded activity March 31, 2025.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

This bill requires the IRS to create a process allowing taxpayers to receive replacement tax refunds via direct deposit if their original paper check was lost or stolen. Currently, the IRS is often limited to mailing replacement checks to the same address, which increases the risk of repeated theft.

Key Facts

The bill mandates that the Secretary of the Treasury establish procedures for direct deposit of replacement tax refunds within 6 months of enactment.
The legislation applies to taxpayers eligible for a replacement of a lost or stolen paper tax refund check.
The bill amends Section 6402 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
The legislation takes effect immediately upon the date of enactment.
Representative Malliotakis reported $5.4 million in stolen IRS checks within her district involving 376 constituents.
The bill received unanimous approval from the Ways and Means Committee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I be forced to use direct deposit for my replacement refund?

No, the bill allows taxpayers to 'elect' or choose to receive the replacement refund via direct deposit as an alternative to a paper check.

How soon will this change take effect?

The Secretary of the Treasury is required to prescribe regulations to establish these procedures within 6 months of the bill's enactment.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift100% confidence

Modernization of IRS Refund Delivery

The bill represents a shift from a rigid, mail-only replacement policy to a flexible, digital-first approach for stolen refund recovery.

Internal Revenue Service

Connected Entities

organizationInternal Revenue Service“Responsible for issuing tax refunds and implementing the new procedures”Map →

personDavid Kustoff“Representative”Map →

personSmith of Missouri“Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee”Map →

personNicole Malliotakis“Representative from New York”Map →

personTerri Sewell“Representative from Alabama”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy5
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz25
Current news / social attention level

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