WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the bipartisan Recovery of Stolen Checks Act, which would allow American taxpayers who have their paper checks from the U.S. Department of Treasury lost or stolen in the mail to receive their payment by electronic deposit:

“An outdated IRS policy is leaving Tennesseans vulnerable to having their tax refund checks repeatedly lost or stolen in the mail,” said Senator Blackburn. “When those refunds don’t arrive on time, it puts real strain on hardworking families. The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act would allow taxpayers to receive a direct deposit from the Treasury Department rather than another check a criminal could intercept.”

“With check fraud costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, it makes no sense for the federal government to keep reissuing vulnerable paper checks after they have already been stolen or gone missing,” said Senator Warner. “This bipartisan bill offers a smart, secure fix by letting taxpayers opt for direct deposit so they can get their money faster and more safely.” 

The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). 

This legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is sponsored by Representatives David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.).

BACKGROUND: 

• Tax refund theft is on the rise, with two postal workers charged in May in connection to a $63 million scheme to steal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) refund checks. 

• Criminals take stolen IRS refund checks and sell them on the dark web. One investigation found 4,000 to 5,000 stolen checks for sale every month. 

• The total loss for American taxpayers for stolen mail is hundreds of millions of dollars.

• Currently, if an IRS refund check is stolen, a taxpayer can only be issued a replacement paper check. This leaves the taxpayer vulnerable to having their refund check stolen again.

THE RECOVERY OF STOLEN CHECKS ACT

• The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act would require Department of the Treasury to establish a secure, streamlined process that allows eligible taxpayers to receive their replacement refunds electronically via direct deposit, helping reduce the risk of theft, delays, and fraud.

Click here for bill text.