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Michelle Lambright Black is a credit expert with over 19 years of experience, a freelance writer and a certified credit expert witness. In addition to writing for Bankrate, Michelle's work is featured with numerous publications including FICO, Experian, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report and Reader’s Digest, among others.
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Lance Davis is the Vice President of Content for Bankrate, overseeing content for home lending, deposits, investing, consumer lending, insurance, credit cards and small business. Lance leads a team of more than 70 editors, reporters and publishers who are passionate about creating content that helps readers make smarter financial decisions.
Reviewed by
Kenneth Chavis IV
Kenneth Chavis IV is a senior wealth counselor at Versant Capital Management who provides investment management, complex wealth strategy, financial planning and tax advice to business owners, executives, medical doctors, and more.
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Since 2003, the IRS has provided an online tool that lets you track the status of your refund electronically. You can access the tool, called “Where’s My Refund?,” as soon as 24 hours after you e-file your tax return (or four weeks after mailing your paper return). You can also download the IRS2Go app to track your tax refund on your mobile device.
You’ll need the following information to check the status of your refund online:
Once you input the required data, you’ll encounter one of three status settings.
The IRS updates refund status once a day, usually overnight.
According to the IRS tax refund schedule, the IRS issues most tax refunds (more than 90 percent) in fewer than 21 calendar days. However, that doesn’t mean you should count on your refund to hit your bank account or mailbox within three weeks. The IRS says the fastest way to get a refund is to use the IRS e-file and direct deposit.
If you opt to receive your refund electronically, it will likely take additional time for your bank to post your refund amount to your account. Weekends and holidays, for example, may extend the time between when your refund leaves the IRS and shows up in your account.
If you filed a tax refund with an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or an Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) claim, this may affect the timing of your refund as well. EITC/ACTC filers will receive their refunds by the first week of March at the earliest (if direct deposit was selected), depending upon when they filed their returns.
Although you’re probably eager to receive your refund, it might take longer than 21 days for the IRS to process your return. Several issues might cause a delay, including
There’s no magic wand to make your refund arrive instantly. But there are a couple of steps you can take to potentially speed up the process.
Filing an amended tax return can be a pain. Yet, if you do have to file an amended return for any reason, the good news is you may still be able to track its status online using the “Where’s My Amended Return” tool. But be patient, as the IRS says an amended return can take three weeks after you mailed it to show up in their system, and processing can now take up to 20 weeks.
The IRS’ online tools are all that most people need to track the status of a tax refund. But there are some exceptions. You might need to give the IRS a call in the following situations:
Keep in mind that calling the IRS won’t speed up the processing of your refund. According to the IRS, if you’re eager to know when your refund will arrive, you’re better off using one of its online tracking tools. The IRS updates the status of refunds daily, generally overnight, so checking an online tool multiple times throughout the day probably won’t be helpful.
Remember, phone representatives at the IRS can only research the status of your refund 21 days after you file electronically, six weeks after you mail a paper return, or 16 weeks after you mail an amended return.
State taxes work differently from federal taxes because each state manages its system a little differently. To check the status of your state tax refund, you’ll need the same information you need to check your federal tax refund: your Social Security number and your refund amount.
Your state’s tax website should have an option on the page to track your taxes, similarly to the federal system. Most states’ pages will say, “Where’s My Refund?” Follow the prompts there to track your state tax refund.
The amount of time it takes to get your refund also varies by state, and some take several weeks. Once you’ve crossed the amount of expected time it takes, then you potentially have the option to call your state tax office to locate your return, get a status update and an idea of when you might receive your refund. You can find all this information on your state’s local tax page.
The IRS has received your information and is in the process of reviewing it. It hasn’t been approved yet, but it may be in the near future.
Yes. The information you sent has been approved, and you should receive your refund.
Certain banks may take longer to process deposits. It’s not uncommon for a deposit to take up to five days to post to an account.
Michelle Lambright Black is a credit expert with over 19 years of experience, a freelance writer and a certified credit expert witness. In addition to writing for Bankrate, Michelle's work is featured with numerous publications including FICO, Experian, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report and Reader’s Digest, among others.
Lance Davis is the Vice President of Content for Bankrate, overseeing content for home lending, deposits, investing, consumer lending, insurance, credit cards and small business. Lance leads a team of more than 70 editors, reporters and publishers who are passionate about creating content that helps readers make smarter financial decisions.
Kenneth Chavis IV is a senior wealth counselor at Versant Capital Management who provides investment management, complex wealth strategy, financial planning and tax advice to business owners, executives, medical doctors, and more.
