If there are no problems with your return, it will be posted to the IRS Individual Master File (IMF). If you are due a refund, the process to issue a check or electronic direct deposit will begin. You can check “Where's My Refund?” on the status of your refund.
Many of these reviews are automated systemic processes while others, due to IRS's outdated systems, are forced to remain manual including uploading paper filings.
Sometimes, refunds can be issued in as little as 10 days. However, paper filed returns may take four weeks or more due to manual processing.
When the IRS cannot capture the data from a tax return electronically, IRS employees must enter the data from paper- filed returns manually. The manual transcription of millions of lines of return data is expensive, produces transcription errors, and delays return processing.
The most convenient way to check on a tax refund is by using the Where's My Refund? tool on IRS.gov.
Paper forms - You can file with paper forms and mail them to the IRS. If you have wages, file Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. If you're a senior, you can file 1040-SR.
Many different factors can affect the timing of a refund after the IRS receives a return. A manual review may be necessary when a return has errors, is incomplete or is affected by identity theft or fraud.
If you file a complete and accurate paper tax return, your refund should be issued in about six to eight weeks from the date IRS receives your return. If you file your return electronically, your refund should be issued in less than three weeks, even faster when you choose direct deposit.
An incomplete return, an inaccurate return, an amended return, tax fraud, claiming tax credits, owing certain debts for which the government can take part or all of your refund, and sending your refund to the wrong bank due to an incorrect routing number are all reasons that a tax refund can be delayed.
If it's being manually processed it means we're checking the information you've provided on your return. This could mean we're checking with your employer, bank, and other government agencies to confirm what you've reported is correct.
Tracking the status of a tax refund is easy with the Where's My Refund? tool. It's available anytime on IRS.gov or through the IRS2Go App. Taxpayers can start checking their refund status within 24 hours after an e-filed return is received.
The IRS does not check every tax return. It does not check the majority of them, but the IRS implements methods that track certain factors that would result in a further examination or audit by them.
You can check the status of your return with the IRS Where's My Refund tool 24 hours after e-filing or four weeks after mailing it. The tracker shows three stages: return received (when the IRS begins processing it), refund approved and refund sent.
If a taxpayer receives the status update that their tax return was accepted but not approved, this means that the IRS has received their tax return, but they have not yet evaluated the information. Therefore, the taxpayer must wait to see if more action is required.
The "Where's My Refund" tool, located at https://www.irs.gov/refunds, follows your tax return from receipt to completion. It will tell you when your return is in received status and if your refund is in approved or sent status.
Processing times
Some tax returns need extra review for accuracy, completeness, and to protect taxpayers from fraud and identity theft. Returns that fall into this category can take longer to process. Disaster-related returns may take longer to process than tax returns not claiming disaster relief.
Even with the January 30 opening of the tax season, we expect refunds to be issued within normal timeframes. The IRS issued more than 9 out of 10 refunds to taxpayers in less than 21 days last year.
Another easily avoidable audit red flag is rounding or estimating dollar amounts on your tax return. Say, for instance, you round $403 of tip income to $400, $847 of student loan interest to $850, and $97 of medical expenses to $100. The IRS is going to see all those nice round numbers and think you're making them up.
If the IRS decides that your return merits a second glance, you'll be issued a CP05 Notice. This notice lets you know that your return is being reviewed to verify any or all of the following: Your income. Your tax withholding.
The IRS conducts audits either by mail or through an in-person interview to review your records. The interview may be at an IRS office (office audit) or at the taxpayer's home, place of business, or accountant's/representative's office (field audit). Remember, you will be contacted initially by mail.
Instead, an IRS employee manually enters each digit from the form into the agency's system – a process that resulted in transcription errors on about 22% of paper returns in 2021. The process takes time and resources – all of which could mean taxpayers are waiting longer for their federal tax refund.
Filing season 2024: Taxpayers will be able to go paperless
Taxpayers will be able to digitally submit all correspondence, non-tax forms, and responses to notices; as a result, the IRS estimates more than 94% of individual taxpayers will no longer ever need to send mail to the IRS.
Despite the IRS's success in eliminating its backlog of paper-filed Forms 1040, backlogs in processing amended individual income tax returns (Forms 1040-X), amended business tax returns and correspondence continued.