If You Want To...

Go to www.irs.gov and click on the Where’s My Refund tool. You may also contact the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040

If you received a check or EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) payment from Treasury and don't know why it was sent to you, find the agency that sent you the payment by using the EFT and Check agency identification tips below.

EFT Payment Identification Tips

To find the agency responsible for a payment deposited directly into your bank account, you can get the payment details from your bank account statement and use the information below to identify the paying agency and payment type. If needed, you can then contact the agency using the contact information at https://www.usa.gov/agency-index.

Paying Agency / Payment Type	Payment details on your account statement
Fiscal Service/TreasuryDirect Marketable Securities / Savings Bonds Government Series Security Payments	‘~~MISC PAY ‘~~SLG_PMT ‘
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Internal Revenue Service – Tax Refund Internal Revenue Service (Economic Impact Payment Internal Revenue Service (Advance Child Tax Credit)	‘~~TAX REF ‘ ‘~~TAXEIP#_’ (# = 1, 2, or 3) ‘~~CHILDCTC’
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Compensation and Pension Insurance Education	‘XXVA_BENEF’ ‘XXVA INSUR’ ‘XXVA _ _ _ _ _ _’ (Various values like ‘EDUC’, ‘CH35’, ‘1607’, and the like)
Federal Pay (Contact your government employer if you have questions about the payment.) Federal Salary Federal Travel Payments Federal Annuity Federal Vendor/Misc	‘~~FED SAL ‘ ‘~~FED TVL ‘~~FED ANNU’ ‘~~MISC PAY’
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Civil Service Retirement (Annuity)	‘XXCIV SERV’
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) Railroad Retirement/Annuity Unemployment/Sickness	‘XXRR RET ‘ ‘XXRR UISI ‘
Social Security Administration (SSA) Social Security Supplemental Security Income	‘XXSOC SEC ‘ ’XXSUPP SEC’

Check Payment Identification Tips

If you received a check, determine the paying agency by finding the Agency Location Code (ALC) on the check and using the guide below. You can then contact the agency using the contact information at https://www.usa.gov/agency-index.

ALC	Agency
02700518	Federal Communications Commission
05000001	US Government Accountability Office (GAO)
12XXXXXX	Department of Agriculture
13XXXXXX	Department of Commerce
ALCs starting with 16XXXXXX	Department of Labor
ALCs starting with 2009XXXX	Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
ALCs starting with 24XXXXXX	Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
ALCs starting with 2804XXXX)	Social Security Administration (SSA)
33010001	Smithsonian Institution (SI)
36001200	Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
36000201	Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
36000201	Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Education Benefits
36000310	Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Insurance
47000016	General Services Administration (GSA)
47000017	General Services Administration-USDA
60009301	Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
73000001	Small Business Administration (SBA)
75XXXXXX	Department of Health and Human Services
91XXXXXX	Department of Education
95550001	Corporation for National and Community Service

If you can’t find the agency, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service Call Center can help. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service Call Center can be reached by calling 1-855-868-0151 or e-mailing PFC.CustomerEngagementCenter@fiscal.treasury.gov

Contact the paying agency and report the incident. If you need contact information for the paying agency, go to https://www.usa.gov/agency-index. The agency will help you with the claims process. You will be sent information on the check claims process, including forms you must return for processing. If you need help filling out the forms, watch one of the following videos:

How to complete a claim form (English)

How to complete a claim form (Spanish)

If you are with a federal agency, Office of Inspector General, or Law Enforcement group investigating a legal matter involving federal payments, contact FDS.customersupport@fiscal.treasury.gov or paymentintegrity@fiscal.treasury.gov.

If you represent a federal program agency or financial institution and have questions or need help with a payment related issue where fraud is suspected, please call 1-855-868-0151 or e-mail PFC.CustomerEngagementCenter@fiscal.treasury.gov.

If you wish to report the death of an individual, please contact the paying agency.

If you are a representative of a Federal Agency and wish to reclaim payments mistakenly sent after the payee’s death, submit a claim in Treasury Check Information System (TCIS) for that payment or follow your agency’s claim process.

Visit https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/foia.html for FOIA requests or e-mail CongressionalInquiries@fiscal.treasury.gov for Congressional inquiries.

If you have an expired Treasury check, you must contact the federal agency which authorized issuance of the check payment. They will be able to reissue your check. If you need help identifying which federal agency issued the payment, you can use the information on the check to identify the agency.

Fiscal Service is unable to make any changes in your payment information. To update the personal information associated with a federal payment – including your name, address, bank account, and so on – you will need to contact the federal agency that pays you. Agencies maintain payment records and can update them at your direction. To avoid any possible delays in getting your payments, notify the paying agency immediately following any changes.

To enroll in Direct Deposit of a federal payment, you will need to contact the government agency that pays you. If you need contact information for the paying agency go to https://www.usa.gov/agency-index. For most agencies, the first step is to fill out the direct deposit enrollment form. Be sure to verify with your bank the routing and account number information that is required. Return the completed form to the paying agency or to your bank.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury requires federal benefit payments to be issued electronically – through direct deposit to a bank or credit union account or to a Direct Express® Debit Mastercard® card. A direct deposit is the electronic transfer of a federal payment owed to you and sent directly to your bank for deposit to your checking, share draft, or savings account. It’s safer, more secure, and more convenient than getting your payment by check. You must have a bank account to get your payments by direct deposit.

To request help with setting up Direct Deposit for a federal benefit payment, please visit https://godirect.gov or call one of the following numbers:

1-800-333-1795 (English)
1-800-333-1792 (Español)

If you are located outside of the United States and wish to arrange for Direct Deposit to your foreign bank account, please contact the federal agency that issues you a payment or benefit for specific instruction. Key benefit issuing agency contact information is listed below under Other Helpful Links.

You may also visit Go Direct® - Enroll By Mail and scroll down to “International”: Go Direct® - Enroll By Mail.