Facts About the PATH Act and Tax Refunds

Starting on January 27, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will officially kick off the opening of the 2025 tax filing season and will begin accepting and processing tax year 2024 e-filed tax returns.

TurboTax is officially open and accepting e-filed returns. That means that you can file now.

To get your tax refund as quickly as possible, the IRS urges people to prepare their taxes as soon as they have the information needed to file and choose e-file with direct deposit. Overall, the IRS anticipates most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of acceptance when they e-file with direct deposit if there are no issues with their tax return. 

Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, signed into law in December 2015, the IRS cannot issue refunds that include Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) before mid-February. The IRS recently announced that If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), you can expect to get your refund by March 3, 2025, provided you filed your return online, choose to get your refund by direct deposit, and there were no issues found with your return.

The PATH Act, which applies to all tax preparation methods, is intended to help detect and prevent tax fraud. The extended refund release also gives the IRS more time to ensure taxpayers are properly claiming the credits, so they get the refund they are owed.

If you have questions about the processing of your tax refund, the IRS “Where’s My Refund?” page is the best place to get personalized refund information when you need it.

We know how important your money is to you and we want to offer solutions to help you get your money in your pocket faster.  Get your tax refund up to 5 days early* with TurboTax. You could get your tax refund up to 5 days earlier¹ in your own bank account for a fee, guaranteed² or or in a Credit Karma Money™ checking account** for no additional cost. Select the 5 days early or Credit Karma Money deposit option when you’re ready to finish and file inside TurboTax. 

Luckily at tax time, you don’t have to worry about knowing these specific tax benefits. TurboTax will guide you through the tax deductions and credits you are eligible for or you can hand your taxes over to an experienced TurboTax Experts tax expert who can do your taxes from start to finish.

 

Disclaimers:

Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. For more information about Intuit Payments’ money transmission licenses, please visit https://www.intuit.com/legal/licenses/payment-licenses/. 

*If you choose to pay your tax preparation fee with TurboTax using your federal tax refund or if you choose to take the Refund Advance loan, you will not be eligible to receive your refund up to 5 days early. The 5-day early program may change or be discontinued at any time. Up to 5 days early access to your federal tax refund is compared to standard tax refund electronic deposit and is dependent on and subject to IRS submitting refund information to the bank before release date. The IRS may not submit refund information early.

**Credit Karma is not a bank. Banking services for Credit Karma Money accounts are provided by MVB Bank, Inc., Member FDIC. Maximum balance and transfer limits apply per account. 

1 – 5 Days Early to Your Bank Account: Personal taxes only. Your federal tax refund will be deposited to your selected bank account 5 days before the refund settlement date provided by the IRS (the date your refund would have arrived if sent from the IRS directly). The receipt of your refund 5 Days Early is subject to IRS submitting refund information to us at least 5 days before the refund settlement date. IRS does not always provide refund settlement information 5 days early. You will not be eligible to receive your refund 5 Days Early if (1) you take a Refund Advance loan, (2) IRS delays payment of your refund, or (3) your bank’s policies do not allow for same-day payment processing. 5 Days Early fee will be deducted directly from your refund prior to being deposited to your bank account. If your refund cannot be delivered 5 Days Early, you will not be charged the 5 Days Early fee. 5 Days Early program may change or be discontinued at any time. 

2 – If your federal refund is deposited into your selected bank account less than 5 days before the IRS refund settlement date (the date it would have arrived if sent from the IRS directly), then you will not pay the 5 Days Early fee. See Terms of Service for more details.