Filed your taxes but haven’t received your refund yet? Here’s how to check it.
How You File Affects the Processing Time
Did you file your tax returns electronically and sign up for direct deposit? Mail paper returns? These things will affect the time it takes for you to receive your refund.
If you filed your returns electronically, you can start checking for a refund status using the IRS’s Where’s My Refund? tool on their website as early as 24-48 hours after you submit your files.
If you are using a mobile phone to check your refund status, all you need to do is download the IRS2Go app.
In order to check your refund status, you’ll need a few things on hand:
- ITIN or Social Security Number
- Your filing status
- The exact amount you are expecting to receive from your refund
The Where’s My Refund? tool should show a “Return Received” status within that 24-48 hour window of you filing electronically. Once the IRS finishes checking your returns, the status will change to “Refund Approved”, barring there were no issues with them. Once you receive the Approved status, you should likely receive your refund within 21 days.
Once the IRS has sent your refund to your financial institution responsible for direct depositing the money into your bank account, the status will change to “Refund Sent”.
If you filed a complete return electronically, your refund should be issued in less than 3 weeks.
If you filed your returns on paper and mailed them, you should expect to have your refund six to eight weeks from the date the IRS receives them.
Check the Date – Especially for EITC or ACTC
The IRS opened their electronic filing on February 12, and as we stated above, you should be able to check your status within a day or two. But it’s also important to note that by law, the IRS can’t issue your refund before February 15.
For those who claim Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), the earliest you can get your refunds (if you e-filed and there were no issues found) will be the first week of March, which is vastly different than other filers who didn’t claim these tax credits.
Want Those Refunds ASAP? eFile360 Can Help
Need help filing your taxes early next year so you can get that refund more quickly? Sign up for a free eFile360 account today.