How to Change Your Bank Account With the IRS: Returns and Payments

How you change your bank account with the IRS depends on what the account is attached to. If you haven’t filed yet, put the new routing and account numbers on your Form 1040. If you’re on a Direct Debit Installment Agreement, update the account through the Online Payment Agreement tool or by mailing Form 433-D. If the IRS is holding a refund and sent you a CP53E notice, add the new account through your IRS online account within 30 days. One rule cuts across all of it: once your return has posted to the IRS system, the direct deposit destination for that year’s refund is locked and cannot be changed.

When the Bank Account Can Still Be Changed

The IRS will only accept a change to the direct deposit information on a return before that return posts to its system. After posting, your options collapse to waiting for the deposit to either go through, get rejected by the bank, or require a refund trace.¹

If your return hasn’t posted yet and you need the deposit stopped, call the IRS at 800-829-1040, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and ask them to stop it.¹

One boundary to know before you pick up the phone: IRS employees cannot accept bank account information over the phone or in person. Every bank update has to go through the IRS online account, a tax return, or a mailed form.²

Putting a New Account on a Return You Haven’t Filed

If you simply want your next refund sent to a different bank than last year, enter the updated routing and account number on the direct deposit lines of your Form 1040. The IRS uses whatever bank information appears on that year’s return. There is no prior-year account on file that you have to override.³

A few points that trip people up:

The refund should only go to an account in your own name. On a joint return, the account can be in either spouse’s name or a joint account.³
To split the refund across two or three accounts, use Form 8888 instead of the direct deposit line on the 1040.⁴
The IRS takes no responsibility for errors in the routing or account number. A single wrong digit can send your refund into a stranger’s account, and recovering it becomes your problem.

Electronically filed returns are generally processed within 21 days. Paper returns take considerably longer.⁵

Changing the Bank on an Installment Agreement

If you make monthly payments through a Direct Debit Installment Agreement and need to point them at a different account, you have two paths.

Online Payment Agreement Tool

The fastest method is the IRS Online Payment Agreement application. Log in, choose the option to revise your existing plan, and enter the new routing and account number. The tool lets you review the change before submitting and sends confirmation when it’s done. The same tool can convert a non-direct-debit plan to direct debit, change the monthly payment amount, or adjust the due date.⁶

Form 433-D by Mail

If the online tool isn’t an option, complete Form 433-D with the new bank’s name, address, routing number, and account number, and attach a voided check from the new account. Sign the form and mail it to the IRS address printed on the letter that came with the form, or the address in the form’s “For assistance” box.⁷

Certified mail with return receipt gives you proof of delivery. Mail-based changes take significantly longer to process than online changes, so submit well before your next payment date.

Timing Around Your Next Scheduled Payment

Changing the account too close to a scheduled debit can leave the IRS still pulling from the old account. To stop a specific upcoming payment, contact your bank at least three business days before the scheduled transfer, or contact the IRS at least 14 business days before.⁷

Getting the timing wrong is expensive. If the IRS tries to debit a closed or empty account, you owe a dishonored payment penalty of 2% of the payment amount. For payments under $1,250, the penalty is $25 or the amount of the payment, whichever is less.⁸ A failed payment can also put the installment agreement itself into default, which lets the IRS resume collection activity.⁹

Responding to a CP53E Notice

If the IRS couldn’t deposit your refund because bank information was missing or the bank rejected the deposit, you’ll receive a CP53E notice. The notice gives you 30 days to log into your IRS online account and add or update the bank information. The online account is the only accepted channel: the IRS will not take bank details by phone, in person, or by mail in response to this notice. Once you submit the account information, the refund is released immediately by direct deposit.¹⁰

If you don’t respond within 30 days and nothing else is wrong with your return, the IRS issues a paper check six weeks after the notice date. You still get your money, but the delay can stretch past two months once you add earlier processing time.¹⁰

The Where’s My Refund tool on IRS.gov also displays messages about missing banking information, so check there if a refund seems stalled.

If You Already Entered the Wrong Account Number

If the routing and account numbers don’t match a valid account, the bank rejects the deposit and returns the money to the IRS, which then mails a paper check to your last known address. Annoying, but self-correcting.¹

The worse outcome is when the wrong numbers happen to match someone else’s real account and the bank accepts the deposit. At that point the IRS considers its obligation met. You have to work directly with the financial institution to recover the funds, and the IRS will not intervene.¹

If you’ve contacted the bank and two weeks pass with no resolution, file Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund, to open a formal refund trace. Mail or fax it to the Refund Inquiry Unit for your state; addresses and fax numbers are in the form instructions.¹¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Whichever method applies to you, pull this together first:

Your SSN or ITIN for identity verification.¹²
The new bank’s nine-digit routing number, from a check, your bank’s app, or the bank itself.
The new account number, copied carefully. An extra or missing digit is the most common error.
A voided check from the new account if you’re mailing Form 433-D.
IRS online account credentials. If you don’t have an account on IRS.gov, you’ll need to set one up through identity verification for CP53E responses and installment agreement changes.

For an installment agreement change, also have your current payment amount, due date, and the letter or notice number tied to the plan. If you’re mailing Form 433-D, send it to the address on the letter that came with the form or the address in the “For assistance” box on the form.⁷

1
Internal Revenue Service. Refund Inquiries 18
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Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Executive Order 14247 – Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account
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Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Refund Faster – Tell IRS to Direct Deposit Your Refund to One, Two, or Three Accounts
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8888, Allocation of Refund
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Internal Revenue Service. Processing Status for Tax Forms
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Internal Revenue Service. Online Payment Agreement Application
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 433-D Installment Agreement
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6657 – Bad Checks
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Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 206, Dishonored Payments
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Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP53E Notice
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund
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Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN)