The Internal Revenue Service offers plenty of tools to help with your taxes. Where’s My Refund tool allows taxpayers to see the current status of their tax refunds.
After you file a tax return, you will know whether or not you will receive a tax refund or owe to the IRS. If you’re expecting a tax refund, you can track the status of it using Where’s My Refund. It is the only and the most reliable way to see the status of your tax refund.
Although the tool isn’t updated constantly, you will see updates on your tax refund. At the time of writing, the IRS updates Where’s My Refund tool once a day at midnight. With that said, tracking the status of your tax refund once a day is more than enough.
On Where’s My Refund — in order — you will see the following updates.
- Return received
- Refund approved
- Refund sent
After the tax refund is sent, you should be able to get it in your bank account within three business days. On the other hand, if you’re expecting a physical check, it may take up to a week or two — depending on when you file taxes.
How to use?
Click here to open Where’s My Refund tool.
The IRS Where’s My Refund is perhaps the easiest tax tool that there is. It only requires three basic information which you can find on your federal income tax return. To check the status of your tax refund, you will need:
- Filing status
- Exact refund amount (Form 1040 Line 20)
- Social Security Number
After you enter these, you will see the status of the tax refund you’re expecting. It can be either one of the given examples in the list we mentioned. Again, depending on when and how you file, your tax refund will be issued to you between two and six weeks.
While those who filed taxes electronically can expect to have their tax refunds in three weeks, those who filed a paper tax return can expect to wait for up to eight weeks. This is due to how long it takes the IRS to process a tax return. If your tax return is processed at a later date, there will be delays on your tax refund.