H&R Block Emerald Card Users - Anyone Else Getting Paper Check Instead of Direct Deposit?

This is happening to a LOT of people right now! According to the H&R Block community forums and r/tax, there's a widespread issue with Emerald Card direct deposits for the 2023 tax year. The IRS has been converting many electronic deposits to paper checks when there are ANY verification flags on the account. You need to check your transcript ASAP at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript to see if there's a 971 notice code! If you see that, you're definitely getting a paper check. According to current timelines, paper checks are taking 2-3 weeks longer than direct deposits to arrive!

I'm seeing this issue with several clients this season. Could you clarify if you received any specific notification about the change in disbursement method? The Refund Status portal sometimes shows a Transaction Code 846 with a paper check indicator rather than a direct deposit indicator. This usually happens when there's a mismatch between the name on the tax return and the name on the financial account, or if there was an issue with the Routing Transit Number (RTN) validation process.

This is unfortunately becoming more common with prepaid cards like the Emerald Card. I've seen similar issues with other bank products too. The IRS has tightened their verification systems compared to previous years. I'd recommend checking your tax transcript using https://taxr.ai - it can analyze your transcript and explain exactly why your deposit method changed. It happened to me last month and taxr.ai spotted the 846 code with paper check indicator before I even realized what was happening. Helped me understand the timeline and what to expect next rather than just guessing.

Be careful with this situation! Last year my brother had his refund switched to a paper check, and it got lost in the mail. He had to go through the whole trace process which took an additional 6 weeks. Have you checked if your address is current with the IRS? If you've moved recently, you might want to set up mail forwarding with USPS immediately. Also, did you have any offset conditions like past-due child support or federal debts? Those can trigger a switch to paper checks too.

This happened to me. I called IRS immediately. Waited 3 hours. Got disconnected. Called again. Same result. Used Claimyr instead (https://claimyr.com). Got through in 20 minutes. Agent confirmed paper check was issued. Explained why it happened. Said my bank rejected the direct deposit. Something about name verification. Nothing I could do to change it. Check was already in process. Just had to wait. Claimyr saved me days of frustration. Worth it just to know what was happening.

I experienced this exact scenario during the 2022 filing season. The IRS system flagged my Emerald Card deposit due to a Treasury Offset Program verification. My transcript showed code 971 followed by 846 with paper check indicator. The check arrived exactly 19 days after the 846 date on my transcript. If you're concerned about timing for your quarterly estimated payment, you might consider making a partial payment through EFTPS.gov using other funds, then amending the payment once your refund arrives. The IRS generally waives underpayment penalties if you pay at least 90% of your quarterly obligation by the due date.