If you haven’t heard anything three weeks after of filing your return, it’s time to check in with the IRS.

“After 21 days, that would be the only time you’d realize that something didn’t go through as normal,”“and you can talk to an IRS representative.”

If a month goes by and you haven’t heard anything, visit the Where’s My Refund? page for mo…[Read more]

No. In some cases the tracker graphics will not be shown if your return is being reviewed prior to step two: “Refund Approved,” and instead an explanation or instructions will be provided depending on the situation. This can happen even if you previously checked Where’s My Refund and it showed the status as “Return Received” along with the track…[Read more]

I tracked down the IRS Standard Operational Procedures and Guidelines, and here is what the IRS is going to do whenever you call and inquire about your tax refund. This is straight from the IRS operational manual:

For purposes of identification and to prevent unauthorized disclosures of tax information, you must know with whom you are speaking,…[Read more]

The IRS has been cracking down on identity theft for the last several years. This is a great thing because a lot of people were becoming victims of tax refund identity theft.

However, a lot of people think they are “verifying their identity” when they call the IRS. And while this is true, it’s not identity theft related.

Whenever you call…[Read more]

Where’s My Refund? will not give you a refund date right away. They must first receive your tax return and then they have to process it and approve your refund. Where’s My Refund? will give you a personalized date once your refund is approved.

The IRS works hard to issue refunds as quickly as possible, but some tax returns take longer to process than others for many reasons, including when a return:

1. includes errors,
2. is incomplete,
3. needs further review,
4. is impacted by identity theft or fraud,
5. includes Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation, which could take up to 14 weeks…

[Read more]

Where’s My Refund? is available almost all of the time. However, IRS systems may not be available every Monday, early, from 12:00 am (Midnight) to 3:00 am Eastern Time.

IRS Change of Address and Refund Trace features are not available during the following times (Eastern Time):

Sunday: 12:00 am (Midnight) to 7:00 pm
Monday: 12:00 am (Midnight) t…[Read more]

Unfortunately, there is no way to speed up the refund process. The IRS handles thousands of tax returns a day and it is important to just be patient and wait.