Checking The Status Of A Federal Tax Return Online
How The Treasury Offset Program Works
Here’s how the Treasury Offset Program works:
If you owe more money than the payment you were going to receive, then TOP will send the entire amount to the other government agency. If you owe less, TOP will send the agency the amount you owed, and then send you the remaining balance.
Here’s an example: you were going to receive a $1,500 federal tax refund. But you are delinquent on a student loan and have $1,000 outstanding. TOP will deduct $1,000 from your tax refund and send it to the correct government agency. It will also send you a notice of its action, along with the remaining $500 that was due to you as a tax refund.
The Internal Revenue Service can help you understand more about tax refund offsets.
The ‘where’s My Refund’ Online Tool
The IRS indicates that it issues nine out of 10 refunds within three weeks if you choose direct deposit and you’ve e-filed your tax return. Refunds can take six to eight weeks if you file a paper return.
Go to Where’s My Refund? on the IRS website to check the status of your refund. The tool is updated every 24 hours. You’ll need some information:
- Your Social Security number or Employer Identification Number as it appears on your tax return
- The filing status you claimed on your return: single, head of household, married filing jointly, married filing separately, or qualifying widow
- The exact refund amount as shown on your tax return
You’ll be redirected to a Refund Status Results screen when you plug in this information. This screen should say one of three things:
- Return received
- Refund approved
- Refund sent
The IRS urges taxpayers to file electronically and to receive their refund via direct deposit. This will help speed up the process for everyone.
You should see an estimated date for deposit into your bank account if your refund has been approved. There should also be a separate date for when you should contact your bank if you haven’t received your refund by then.
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Protecting Your Tax Refund
Although we try to process your refund within the timeframes stated above, it may take longer due to our rigorous fraud detection procedures. Each year, the Department detects new schemes to commit tax refund fraud, and our staff works hard to stop criminals from stealing your refund.
The Department employs many review and fraud prevention measures to safeguard taxpayer funds. These measures may result in refund wait times of more than of 10 weeks. We apologize for this inconvenience and are actively working to release these refunds.
Tracking Your Tax Refund With An App
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How Do I Check The Refund Status From An Amended Return
Amended returns can take longer to process as they go through the mail vs. e-filing. Check out your options for tracking your amended return and how we can help.
Be Aware Of Processing Delays
Again, this year some tax returns with errors or items on the return that need an IRS correction due to a tax law change will take longer than the normal timeframes to process, so expect delays. It may take the IRS more than the normal 21 days to issue refunds for some 2021 tax returns that require review, including but not limited to, ones that claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit . Note: For all tax returns that claim EITC and/or CTC, those refunds must be held, by law, until after mid-February and cannot be released before then.
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How To Check The Status Of Your Refund
What you will need
- Social Security number of taxpayer
- Exact amount of the refund
Two ways to check the status of a refund
- Online via INTIME
- Inquiries can be made on refund amount from 2017 to the current tax season.
Note: If a direct deposit of your Indiana individual income tax refund was requested, once DOR initiates the deposit, our system will reflect the date the request was processed. Normally, it takes seven business days for your financial institution to receive and process the funds.
For more information on refunds, use INTIMEs secure messaging to contact DOR Customer Service.
Information regarding the $125 Automatic Taxpayer Refund issued in 2022 will not be displayed or available via INTIME. The ATR will be sent separately from your 2021 Individual Income Tax refund . More information is available on information page.
One More Thing To Know About Your Tax Refund
It’s actually something you kind of want to avoid. It may seem great to get a big check from the government, but all a tax refund tells you is that you’ve been overpaying your taxes all year and needlessly living on less of your paycheck the whole time.
For example, if you got a $3,000 tax refund, you’ve been giving up $250 a month all year. Could having an extra $250 every month have helped with the bills? If you want to get that money now rather than later, you can adjust your withholdings by giving your employer a new IRS Form W-4 .
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I Still Dont Have My Refund What Should I Do Next
If you have waited the maximum number of weeks it should take to process a refund, we encourage you to check the status of your return or refund online one more time before contacting the Department.
Please note that our tax examiners do not have information about the status of your refund beyond what is available to you from our website. Although the Department is always available to answer your questions and concerns, calling us will not speed up the process. If you would still like to contact the Department, you may reach us at:
Phone: 828-2865 or .
Our staff is working hard to process your return. Our precautions may increase processing time, and we would like to ask for your patience as we strive to provide the protection you have come to expect and deserve.
We appreciate your patience and welcome your feedback to help us continue to improve our services.
If You Choose Direct Deposit
Your tax refund will be sent to your bank the same day the IRS sends your tax refund. It will typically take 3-5 days for your bank to process, depending on your bank.
*Faster access compared to standard tax refund electronic deposit and subject to IRS submitting refund information to the bank before release date. IRS may not submit refund information early.
*Faster access compared to standard tax refund electronic deposit and subject to IRS submitting refund information to the bank before release date. IRS may not submit refund information early.
All timing is based on IRS estimates.
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Tracing A Refund Check That’s Gone Missing
There’s a process in place in case you lose your paper check or if it goes missing. You can ask the IRS to trace it by calling 800-829-1954 or by filling out and sending in Form 3911, the Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund.
The IRS will determine whether the check was cashed. It will create a claims package that includes a copy of the endorsed, cashed check if it was indeed cashed. The agency will decide whether to issue a replacement check following a review, including the signature on the back of the cashed check. This process can take about six weeks.
It will also issue a replacement check if the check wasn’t cashed.
Direct deposit is the safest way to get your refund. You won’t have to worry about a paper check getting lost in the mail, stolen, or misplaced once you have it in hand. But keep in mind that the IRS doesn’t allow more than three direct deposits into the same bank account per tax year.
Check with your bank to see whether the refund has been received if you’re waiting on a direct deposit and the anticipated date has passed. Incorrectly entering your bank account number or routing information on your tax return could cause your refund to go astray, so double-check that information. You can request that the deposit be stopped if the refund hasn’t yet posted to the IRS system.
Tracking Refunds From Amended Tax Returns
Refund information for an amended federal income tax return on Form 1040X isn’t available on the “Where’s My Refund” portal. But there is a resource you can use to track the status of an amended return for the current tax year and up to three prior tax years. Not surprisingly, it’s called the “Where’s My Amended Return” portal.
To access the tool, you’ll need to provide your Social Security number, date of birth, and zip code. It can take up to 3 weeks after you mailed it for an amended return to show up in the portal. Processing an amended return normally can take up to 16 weeks, but lately it’s been taking the IRS more than 20 weeks because of COVID-related processing delays. The “Where’s My Amended Return” tool will let you know if your amended return is received, adjusted, or completed.
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Are You Entitled To Receive Interest On Your Refund
Yes, the Canada Revenue Agency will pay you compound daily interest on your tax refund. The CRA will start paying refund interest on the latest of the following 3 dates:
- the date of the overpayment
- the 120th day after the end of the tax year if the return for the year is filed on time
- the 30th day after the date the return was filed if it is filed late
Where’s My Tax Refund When To Expect Your Money And How Much Extra The Irs Owes You
If you filed your tax return on time and still haven’t gotten your refund, at least it’s earning interest.
Katie Teague
Writer
Katie is a Writer at CNET, covering all things how-to. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing in golf scrambles, practicing yoga and spending time on the lake.
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I’m a writer/editor for CNET How-To and Money, living in South Berkeley, CA with two kids and two cats. I enjoy a variety of games and sports — particularly poker, ping-pong, disc golf, basketball, baseball, puzzles and independent video games.
If you filed your tax returnelectronically and were due a refund, you probably already received it. The IRS reported that it’s processed 97% of the more than 145 million returns it received this year and issued a few more than 96 million refunds.
As a result, delays in completing paper returns have been running from six months up to one year.
Read more: 8 Reasons Your Tax Refund Might Be Delayed
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Avoid Filing Your Tax Return On Paper
It’s a myth that your IRS refund status will be “pending” for a long time and that the IRS takes forever to issue a refund. In reality, you can avoid weeks of wondering “Where’s my refund?” by avoiding paper. The IRS typically takes six to eight weeks to process paper returns. Instead, file electronically those returns are processed in about three weeks. State tax authorities also accept electronic tax returns, which means you may be able to get your state tax refund faster, too.
Can You Transfer Your Refund
Yes, you can ask the CRA to transfer your refund to your instalment account by:
- Selecting this option when filing electronically
- Attaching a note to your paper return
The CRA will transfer your full refund to your instalment account and consider this payment to be received on the date the CRA assesses your return.
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Start Tracking Right Away
Another myth is that theres no way to tell where your refund is until you get it and you’ll be asking ‘Where’s my refund?’ for a while. Reality: You can track your IRS refund status in fact, if you file using tax software or through a tax pro, you can start tracking your IRS refund status 24 hours after the IRS receives your return. If you’re thinking ‘Where’s my state refund?’ there’s good news: You can also track the status of your state tax refund by going to your state’s revenue and taxation website.
How Long Will It Take To Get Your Refund
General refund processing times during filing season:
- Electronically filed returns: Up to 2 weeks
- Paper filed returns: Up to 8 weeks
- Returns sent by certified mail: Allow an additional 3 weeks
The Wheres my Refund application shows where in the process your refund is. When we’ve finished processing your return, the application will show you the date your refund was sent. All returns are different, and processing times will vary.
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Don’t Let Things Go Too Long
If you haven’t received your tax refund after at least 21 days of filing online or six weeks of mailing your paper return, go to a local IRS office or call the federal agency . But that wont fast-track your refund, according to the IRS. “Where’s my refund” will undoubtedly be a concern, but the thing to worry about here is refund theft. It isn’t corrected quickly, so you may be in for an even longer wait.
How To Track Your State Tax Refund
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, youll need the same information you need to check your federal tax refund: your Social Security number and your refund amount.
Your states tax website should have an option on the page to track your taxes, similarly to the federal system. Most states pages will say, Wheres 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 youve 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 states local tax page.
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