Tax Refund Check Instead of Direct Deposit

Aug 04, 2009 4 Replies

Just a question for curiosity's sake. I just got my 2008 refund check (I am an overseas filer and filed in June). I had expected direct deposit. I looked at the copy of my return, and had indicated direct deposit, but I got a check anyway. Any ideas as to why?


The US Treasury will not make a direct deposit to a foreign bank or a branch of a US bank located in a foreign country. They only make direct deposits to a US financial institution located in the US (basically you need a valid routing number and account number).

If your request met the above criteria, the following may have happened.

  1. The routing code was bad.
  2. The account number was bad or the names on the account did not match any name on the return.
  3. The bank mistakenly refused the transfer.
  4. The IRS or US Treasury screwed up.

Scratch that last one, # 4. U S Treasury (not IRS) can at their discretion refuse to honor a direct deposit.

ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

4R. The IRS failed to enter or failed to properly enter the request for direct deposit.

Other possibilities come to mind:

  1. The bank refused the transfer. NOT mistakenly, for banks themselves may refuse to honor the direct deposit for their own reasons. Usually it's a question of the ownership of the requested bank account.

  1. The taxpayer may have neglected to indicate what type of account it is, whether savings or checking.

ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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