When Will My Federal Tax Return Come

What You Need To Know

Before filing, you can learn more about the advantages of filing online. Electronic filing is the fastest way to get your refund. If you file online, you can expect to receive your refund within 2 weeks. If filing on paper, you should receive your refund within 6 weeks.

These forms are subject to change only by federal or state legislative action.

All printable Massachusetts personal income tax forms are in PDF format. To read them, youll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

If you have any suggestions or comments on how to improve these forms, contact the Forms Manager at .

If you need information about the most common differences between the federal and Massachusetts state tax treatment of personal income, please visit our overview page.

Protect Yourself From Tax

Tax ID theft occurs when someone steals your personal information to file a tax return using your personal data. Usually, the fraudulent tax filer will use your Social Security number to file your return in order to collect a refund. To protect yourself from tax ID theft, you can obtain a six-digit Identity Protection PIN from the IRS. IP PINs are known only to you and the IRS so the IRS is able to confirm your identity when you file your return. Learn more about how the IP PIN works and how to apply.

You Claimed Certain Tax Credits

Tax credits reduce your tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Certain tax creditsincluding the earned income credit and the additional child tax creditoften draw scrutiny from the IRS due to taxpayers claiming these credits fraudulently. If you claimed either credit, then that could be the reason why your refund hasnt yet arrived.

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Tips For Maximizing Your Tax Savings

• Finding a qualified financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors in your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
• When youre filing your taxes, a tax filing service can make things easier. They can take a lot of the confusion out of the process for you and help you file a more accurate tax return. They can also help you find deductions or exemptions that you wouldnt have known about on your own. Popular software choices include TurboTax and H& R Block.
• If you find that youre regularly receiving large tax refunds, this may mean that youre paying too much in taxes in the first place. In that case, you may want to adjust the withholding amounts on your W-4 so you can keep more money throughout the course of the year. Big refunds are exciting, but why give the IRS a free loan?

How To Check Your Refund Status

Use the 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 to check on the status of your refund. However, IRS live phone assistance is extremely limited at this time. Wait times to speak with a representative can be long. But you can avoid the wait by using the automated phone system. Follow the message prompts when you call.

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Reasons For A Late Tax Refund

Many things can hold up the processing and delivery of your tax refund. For example, it could be delayed if you filed your return too early or waited until the last minute. If you tried to file in January, for example, a last-minute change to the tax code could have triggered an error on your return that slowed down the processing. Similarly, waiting until the very last minute to get your return in can mean a longer wait for your refund if the IRS is backlogged with a larger-than-usual volume of returns.

Also, keep in mind that filing a paper return can slow things down. The fastest way to fileand to get your refundis to do it electronically online. Here are some of the most common causes of delay:

Awaiting Processing Of Previous Tax Returns People Can Still File 2021 Returns

Rettig noted that IRS employees continue to work hard on critical areas affected by the pandemic, including processing of tax returns from last year and record levels of phone calls coming in.

“In many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs. This is frustrating for taxpayers, for IRS employees and for me,” Rettig said. “IRS employees want to do more, and we will continue in 2022 to do everything possible with the resources available to us. And we will continue to look for ways to improve. We want to deliver as much as possible while also protecting the health and safety of our employees and taxpayers. Additional resources are essential to helping our employees do more in 2022 and beyond.”

The IRS continues to reduce the inventory of prior-year individual tax returns that have not been fully processed. As of December 3, 2021, the IRS has processed nearly 169 million tax returns. All paper and electronic individual 2020 refund returns received prior to April 2021 have been processed if the return had no errors or did not require further review.

Taxpayers generally will not need to wait for their 2020 return to be fully processed to file their 2021 tax returns and can file when they are ready.

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How To Use The Irs Where’s My Refund Tracking Tool

To check the status of your 2021 income tax refund using the IRS tracker tools, you’ll need to provide some personal information: your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number your filing status and your refund amount in whole dollars, which you can find on your tax return. Make sure it’s been at least 24 hours before you start tracking your refund.

Using the IRS tool Where’s My Refund?, go to the Get Refund Status page, enter your personal data, then press Submit. If you entered your information correctly, you’ll be taken to a page that shows your refund status. If not, you may be asked to verify your personal tax data and try again. If all the information looks correct, you’ll need to enter the date you filed your taxes, along with whether you filed electronically or on paper.

The IRS also has a mobile app called IRS2Go that checks your tax refund status. It’s available in English and Spanish. You’ll be able to see if your return has been received, approved and sent. In order to log in, you’ll need your Social Security number, filing status and expected refund amount. The IRS updates the data in this tool overnight, so if you don’t see a status change after 24 hours or more, check back the following day. Once your return and refund are approved, you’ll receive a personalized date by which to expect your money.

You can check on your refund using the IRS2Go mobile app.

When Will I Get My Tax Refund

The Wheres My Refund? tool lets you check the status of your refund through the IRS website or the IRS2Go mobile app. If you submit your tax return electronically, you can check the status of your refund within 24 hours. But if you mail your tax return, youll need to wait at least four weeks before you can receive any information about your tax refund. Keep in mind that usually you can file your taxes in January.

In order to find out the status of your tax refund, youll need to provide your Social Security number , filing status and the exact dollar amount of your expected refund. If you accidentally enter the wrong SSN, it could trigger an IRS Error Code 9001. That may require further identity verification and delay your tax refund.

Most taxpayers receive their refunds within 21 days. If you choose to have your refund deposited directly into your account, you may have to wait five days before you can gain access to it. If you request a refund check, you might have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive. The table below will give you an idea of how long youll wait, from the time you file, until you get your refund.

Note that these are just guidelines. Based on how you file, most filers can generally expect to receive a refund within these time frames.

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When We Issue A Refund We Will Deliver One Of The Following Messages

• Your return has been processed. A direct deposit of your refund is scheduled to be issued on . If your refund is not credited to your account within 15 days of this date, check with your bank to find out if it has been received. If its been more than 15 days since your direct deposit issue date and you havent received it yet, see Direct deposit troubleshooting tips.
• Your refund check is scheduled to be mailed on . If you have not received your refund within 30 days of this date, call 518-457-5149.

What’s The Deal With The Enhanced Child Tax Credit Checks In 2022

To date, the enhanced monthly child tax credit checks have expired and will revert back to the original amount unless a vote is made to extend the payments. The House of Representatives passed an extension of the child tax credit increase and advance payments when it ratified the Build Back Better bill in November. However, Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said he wouldn’t support the bill unless a work requirement for parents is added, effectively killing the legislation.

President Joe Biden said he isn’t sure if the enhanced child tax credit will remain in the Build Back Better bill, but plans to break the package up into chunks. We’ll update this story as new information develops.

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First Check Your Refund Status Online

If you are wondering where your refund is, you can start by checking its status on the IRSs Wheres My Refund? page. To do that, the IRS says you will need:

• Your filing status
• Your exact refund amount

, supply the required information, and youll get results. Unfortunately, this tool does not provide much detail about why your money may be delayed. It may advise you to call the IRS, from which you should be able to learn more details. However, the IRS says you should not call unless one of the following two things is true:

• It has been 21 or more days since you e-filed.
• The Wheres My Refund? online tool tells you to contact the IRS.

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.

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Im Counting On My Refund For Something Important Can I Expect To Receive It In 21 Days

Many different factors can affect the timing of your refund after we receive your return. Even though we issue most refunds in less than 21 days, its possible your refund may take longer. Also, remember to take into consideration the time it takes for your financial institution to post the refund to your account or for you to receive it by mail.

Plan Ahead For The 2022 Tax Season

The IRS experienced some processing delays in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it indicates that it’s still experiencing some service delays in 2022. Telephone assistance, processing of paper returns, and reviewing returns are likely to move along more slowly than usual.

The agency urges that taxpayers not call or file a second return if they experience delays. Many tools are available online that can help if you have questions. Its Free File service will prepare and e-file your tax return for you if your 2021 adjusted gross income was $73,000 or less.

Free File tax forms and e-filing are still available at no cost if you earned more than $73,000. But you’ll have to complete them and prepare your return yourself.

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This Irs Tax Return Status Is Showing What Does It Mean

Both IRS tools will show you one of three messages to explain your tax return status.

• Received: The IRS now has your tax return and is working to process it.
• Approved: The IRS has processed your return and confirmed the amount of your refund, if you’re owed one.
• Sent: Your refund is now on its way to your bank via direct deposit or as a paper check sent to your mailbox.

Here’s How Long It Will Take To Get Your Tax Refund In 2022

Three-quarters of all Americans get an annual tax refund from the IRS, which often is a family’s biggest check of the year. But this tax season could see a repeat of last year’s snarls in processing, when about 30 million taxpayers had their returns and refunds held up by the IRS.

Treasury Department officials warned on Monday that this year’s tax season will be a challenge once the IRS starts processing returns on January 24. That’s largely due to the IRS’ sizable backlog of returns from 2021. As of December 23, the agency had 6 million unprocessed individual returns a significant reduction from a backlog of 30 million in May, but far higher than the 1 million unprocessed returns that is more typical around the start of tax season.

• IRS is in crisis, Taxpayer Advocate warns

That may make taxpayers nervous about delays in 2022, but most Americans should get their refunds within 21 days of filing, the IRS said on Monday with some caveats.

For instance, errors like math problems or incorrectly stating how much you received from the advanced Child Tax Credit payments could get your tax return flagged, leading to delays of weeks or even months.

“The first thing you know if you are going to cook a meal, you have to have the kitchen cleaned up from the last meal,” said Mark W. Everson, vice chairman at Alliantgroup and former Commissioner of the IRS. “It just snowballs into a terrible situation.”

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How To Track Your Tax Refund

Many taxpayers prefer to get their tax refund via direct deposit. When you fill out your income tax return youll be prompted to give your bank account details. That way, the IRS can put your refund money right in your account, and you wont have to wait for a check to arrive in the mail.

If you file your taxes early, you dont have to wait until after the tax deadline to get your tax refund. Depending on the complexity of your tax return, you could get your tax refund in just a couple of weeks. To get a timeline for when your refund will arrive, you can go to www.irs.gov/refunds. You can check the status of your refund within 24 hours after the IRS notifies you that it has received your e-filed tax return .

In a given tax year, you may want to know how big your refund will be so you can plan what to do with it. You may want to use it to boost your emergency fund, save for retirement or make an extra student loan or mortgage payment.

Are There Any Expected Tax Refund Delays

Yes, tax refund delays are common. The IRS is required by federal law to withhold tax refunds for taxpayers who claim Earned Income Tax Credits and Additional Child Tax Credit until at least Feb. 15, 2020. Keep in mind it can still take a week to receive your refund after the IRS releases it. So some people who file early may experience delays while awaiting their refund. Refunds should be processed normally after this date.

Note: The IRS anticipates a slower tax season for the 2020 tax year due to the backlog of tax returns that were delayed due to the pandemic. There may also be some complications for those who did not initially qualify for the the 2020 economic stimulus payment, but may qualify for the payment based on a change of income in 2020.

The IRS recommends filing your tax return electronically for faster processing and tax refund payments.

Also note that new identity theft protections and anti-fraud measures may hold up some refunds, as some federal tax returns may be held for further review.

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