Most refunds issued in less than 21 days; EITC refunds for many available starting February 28. The IRS anticipates most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of when they file electronically, if they choose direct deposit and there are no issues with their tax return.
How quickly will I get my refund? (updated December 22, 2023) We issue most refunds in less than 21 calendar days. However, if you mailed your return and expect a refund, it could take four weeks or more to process your return.
Use the IRS Where's My Refund tool or the IRS2Go mobile app to check your refund online. This is the fastest and easiest way to track your refund. The systems are updated once every 24 hours. You can contact the IRS to check on the status of your refund.
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.
Your refund may be delayed due to: Errors on the return, such as wrongly claiming a dependent or tax credit. Identify theft or fraud. Additional review being required.
If you don't have internet access, you may call the automated refund hotline at 800-829-1954 for a current-year refund or 866-464-2050 for an amended return.
IRS Refund Schedule for Direct Deposits and Check Refunds
The IRS only issued refunds once per week under the old system. They now issue refunds every business day, Monday through Friday (except holidays). Due to changes in the IRS auditing system, they no longer release a full schedule as they did in previous years.
The tax break amount per child was doubled under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, from up to $1,000 to up to $2,000 per child under age 17. The actual refundable portion of that credit for 2023 — meaning how much a parent could see in a refund check after his or her tax liability — is capped at $1,600.
The IRS can delay your tax refund until it completes any audits. This is most common when the IRS is conducting a mail audit on your EITC or ACTC return from a prior year. Normally, you'll receive IRS Letter CP88 indicating that your refund is frozen until the IRS completes the audit.
Once your return is accepted, you are on the IRS' refund timetable. The IRS typically issues refunds in less than 21 days after your e-filed return is accepted. You can use the IRS Where's My Refund? tool or call the IRS at 800-829-1954 to check on the status of your refund, beginning 24 hours after you e-file.
The agency said taxpayers can normally expect to receive a refund within 21 days if they file electronically and choose direct deposit. But by last Friday, Feb. 2, just five days into tax filing season -- the IRS had already issued 2.6 million refunds. In comparison the IRS had sent out over 7.9 million refunds by Feb.
By law, the IRS must wait until at least mid-February to issue refunds to taxpayers who claimed the earned income tax credit or additional child tax credit. According to the agency, those payments should be received by Feb. 27, 2024, for taxpayers who use direct deposit and have no other issues.
Normally, the IRS issues refunds in less than 21 days for e-filed returns. However, the caveat for 2023 is the processing delay backlog. For paper returns, add another few weeks to this estimate.
"IRS Accepted Return But Not Approved" Meaning
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.
Use Where's My Refund, call us at 800-829-1954 (toll-free) and use the automated system, or speak with a representative by calling 800-829-1040 (see telephone assistance for hours of operation). If you filed a married filing jointly return, you can't initiate a trace using the automated systems.
The child tax credit is worth up to $2,000 per qualifying dependent under the age of 17.
The Credit for Other Dependents is worth up to $500. The IRS defines a dependent as a qualifying child (under age 19 or under 24 if a full-time student, or any age if permanently and totally disabled) or a qualifying relative.
The child tax credit (CTC)
The Child Tax Credit is worth a maximum of $2,000 per qualifying child. Up to $1,500 is refundable. To be eligible for the CTC, you must have earned more than $2,500.
When does direct deposit hit? Funds that are directly deposited into a bank account typically go through before 9 a.m. but can arrive as early as midnight. The variability in the amount of time it can take is largely due to the payer's timeframe to release funds.
Most refunds typically take 5-7 business days (excluding weekends and holidays) to appear in your account once the merchant has issued the refund. If you have questions about a refund you should have received, you should first check with the merchant.
A tax refund could be delayed weeks or even months in some cases. The length of the delay may depend on how backed up the IRS is on processing tax returns, whether you turn around requested documentation quickly, and whether you need to file an amended return.
How long after the bank rejects my refund will it take the IRS to issue me a paper check. It can take up to 5 business days for the IRS to receive the funds back. Once they receive the funds they will send you a paper check. This can take up to 10 business days for you to receive it.
After you verify your identity and tax return information using this service, it may take up to nine weeks to complete the processing of the return. Visit Where's My Refund? or use the IRS2Go mobile app 2-3 weeks after using this service to check your refund status.
If your refund status used to be your tax return is still being processed, but now the status says it is being processed, the IRS may have detected an issue in your tax return that could cause a delay in the release of your tax refund.