India, Feb. 17 -- Millions of Americans may experience slower tax refunds in 2026 due to the recent change in regulations and policies pertaining to the yearly tax filing process.

The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) plan to phase out paper checks is one of those significant developments, which could cause refunds to be stopped and postponed for weeks.

Refunds will now be processed by direct deposit by default. This comes as the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department modernize federal payments.

Due to the IRS's phase-out of paper checks, taxpayers who fail to include their bank account and routing information when filing will no longer be automatically refunded.

Instead, the IRS will pause refunds until banking details are provided. In prev...