Tax Refunds Where’s My Tax Refund? Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by TurboTaxLisa Published Jan 31, 2014 - [Updated Sep 7, 2017] 3 min read The IRS officially opened for the 2014 tax season today and a common question asked around this time is “Where’s My Refund?” Many taxpayers also have questions about how the process of getting tax refunds and refund timing works. We know you work hard for your money and wanted to answer some of the most common questions we see about the issuance of tax refunds. Here is a breakdown of how your tax return will progress through 3 stages with the IRS -“Return Received”, “Return Approved”, and “Refund Sent” once you e-file and where you can go to check your refund status so you understand “Where’s My Refund?”: Refund Process Start checking status 24 – 48 hours after e-file – Once you e-file with direct deposit, you can start checking the status of your return 24 – 48 hours after you e-file on the IRS Where’s My Refund tool. Return Received Notice within 24 – 48 hours after e-file – The IRS Where’s My Refund tool will show “Return Received” status once they begin processing your tax return. You will not see a refund date until the IRS finishes processing your tax return and approves your tax refund. Status change from “Return Received” to “Refund Approved” – Once the IRS finishes processing your tax return and confirms your tax refund is approved, your status will change from “Return Received” to “Refund Approved”. Sometimes the change in status can take a few days, but it could take longer and a date will not be provided in Where’s My Refund? until your tax return is processed and your tax refund is approved. Where’s My Refund? tool shows refund date – The IRS will provide an actual refund date once your status moves to “Refund Approved”. The IRS issues more than 9 out of 10 refunds in 21 days or less. Where’s My Refund? shows “Refund Sent” – You’re now closer to your biggest tax refund! If the status in Where’s My Refund? shows “Refund Sent”, the IRS has sent your tax refund to your financial institution for direct deposit. It can take 1 to 5 days for your financial institution to deposit funds into your account. If you requested that your tax refund be mailed, it could take several weeks for your check to arrive. Here are more answers to your common questions about your tax refund: Will I see a date right away when I check status in “Where’s My Refund”? Where’s My Refund will not give you a date until your tax return is received, processed, and your tax refund is approved by the IRS It’s been longer than 21 days since the IRS has received my tax return and I have not received my tax refund. What’s happening? Some tax returns take longer than others to process depending on your tax situation. Some of the reasons it may take longer are incomplete information, an error, or the IRS needs to review it further. What other sources can I use to check my refund status? Once you have e-filed your tax return with TurboTax, you can check your status using MyTurboTax. You can even check your status on the go from your mobile device using TurboTax free app MyTaxRefund. If you haven’t e-filed your taxes yet, you can start today. You may even be able to e-file your federal tax return for free and have your biggest tax refund in your pocket within 21 days. Previous Post 5 Common Tax Forms You Should Expect in the Mail Next Post Common Questions About Earned Income Tax Credit Answered Written by Lisa Greene-Lewis Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation. Her success is attributed to being able to interpret tax laws and help clients better understand them. She has held positions as a public auditor, controller, and operations manager. Lisa has appeared on the Steve Harvey Show, the Ellen Show, and major news broadcast to break down tax laws and help taxpayers understand what tax laws mean to them. For Lisa, getting timely and accurate information out to taxpayers to help them keep more of their money is paramount. More from Lisa Greene-Lewis Follow Lisa Greene-Lewis on Twitter. 3,444 responses to “Where’s My Tax Refund?” « Older Comments Newer Comments » I have found that TurboTax is slower with the IRS process than other online sites. The same thing happened to me last year. Took up to two weeks to receive my refund. My sister used TaxAct she received her DD on Sunday. And that date is 2/6. I am still in the processing phase. Mine was accepted before hers. So it may take a little while. Reply I filed and was accepted on 1/31 & mine still shows 1 bar and processing. I called the irs today and was told that my return and hundreds of others were “resequenced.” She says that so many returns came in early on that they had to resequence or push some of them off to be processed with the next batch. She went on to say that resequencing pushes you back a week, so if you filed on the 31st and it’s still processing, this is why. Finally, she said those of us who were resequenced will not see a status change until next week at the earliest:-( It’s a bunch of BS if you ask me… Reply What? That SUCKS.! I can’t even find a number to talk to a person. Thank you for the info. I was going nuts trying to figure out what heck was going on. I filed 1/28 and accepted 1/28 still no up date but turbo tax says it was accepted. Only one bar shows on IRS web sight. What a mess, I guess I am in the same boat as you. The funny part is if we owed and was late they charge interest but we just have to sit and take it. Reply Thank you for the clarity. Reply What number did you call to talk to an actual person? I filed early and people that just filed 3 days ago already have 2/10 as their date to receive tax refund but mine is still on processing. Frustrating! Reply Thank you for the information Alecia. This has been the most helpful post I have seen as I am waiting for a DD date because I filed on the 31st and my status is still in the “received” stage only. Reply That is kind of good news. Mine was sent and accepted on the 31st but not until late at night. Mine has been on received for the whole week and trying to figure what is going on. I feel better reading this thanks! Reply That’s kind of good news for me. I was accepted on Jan. 31st at 9pm, but I’m still at received.. so this helps me to have a little insight. Still sucks, I still have not heard from my state either. good luck to ya! Reply My schedule date is today and I’m still waiting…its not even showing it has been sent yet on wheres my Refund Reply To anyone that is expecting a refund today, 02/06/2014, SBTPG (1-877-908-7228) states that there has been a delay in refunds and those expecting their refund on the 6th, should be receiving it tomorrow, 02/07/2014. If you are having tax fees deducted from your return, you can call the number listed above for more information. Reply If your DDD wasToday, Feb 6 2014 – it has been delayed for deposit until tomorrow Feb 7th. The deposit will post tomorrow and in some cases, up to 5 days later based on how your bank accepts and releases funds. This information can be confirmed through the online at https://cisc.sbtpg.com/index.aspx. Hope this helps some who are concerned. Reply I called early this morning and inquired if my Direct Deposit date of today is still current, she said she could not give me a time however it is still scheduled to be released sometime today. Reply Federal IRS said the same thing to me this morning and this afternoon. I asked her if there was a problem with the system she said only the wheres my refund system is having trouble. But not the system that sends the direct deposits. Reply they told me up to 3 more weeks? but he sounded like he didnt know did you recieve anything yet ? Reply So if it was not credited this morning it probably won’t be credited till tomorrow??? Reply That’s what I’m guessing. But who knows Reply do u knw of h&r block first year filing did them on the 21st still waitin Reply I filed my taxes and I got the email from TurboTax that my federal has been accepted. However, when I checked the IRS refund-tracking website it now says that my return is being reviewed and that they are going to mail me a request for further information within 30 days. (Before the IRS site said that it was return was approved, but the refund was pending). Until then (when I send them back what they request), no refund. Does anyone know what this means? I’m worried because I’ve never had any problem before with my taxes, so why the review now, and what information could they possibly want that they don’t already have? Does this mean I’m being audited? — I have to admit I’m worried now. Any answers or explanations? Reply Yup, that’s an audit! Have your dependents changed, kids?? Could someone else used your dependents?? Reply Nothing changed on my taxes over the past years that I’ve been filing. Just not sure what’s going on. Last year they sent me that and yea I got audit. Reply With so many incidences of identity theft occurring, the IRS sometimes request additional information from filers to insure that the return is legitimate and that you are who you say you are. The same thing happened to my co-worker last year. It may not be an audit. Reply Can you give dates when you filed so I know if I can expect the same thing? Thanks. Hi, Frank that does not mean you are being audited. Less than 1% of taxpayers are actually audited. They may just request some additional information or want you to send in an additional form. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply Did you get your notice from the IRS, cause I am in the same situation. I got my notice and I have to fax in some proof of HOH and EIC, and hopefully thats the end of it..It has had me losing sleep for the past week not knowing what was wrong. I called TurboTax and the rep said” its like they throw all the returns in a bucket and pick ones to be reviewed” I don’t think so, I think the people who filed early are being targeted! filed 1/10 accepted 1/24 processed 1/31or so the site said..BS is what I say Reply My refund said it would be deposited today 2/6 but it hasnt been and on the IRS website its not showing the “Refund Sent” bar in red. Is anyone else having this problem? Reply I’m having that same problem Reply Yes, I’ve been having the same problem Reply I did not not get mines either Mee too having same issue. any results yet? Reply I’m having the same problem Reply Im having the same issue. still cannot check wmr due to unavailibility for attempting to check 3 to 4 times since 3am est. Therefore, I cannot even see if it has been sent. I live in NYS and filed with liberty tax service. They also gave me a Netspend prepaid card for easy dd. Reply the irs site is down after 12pm eastern My refund was sent to EPS Financial where my tax preparer fee gets taken out. His fee was taken out and they sent my portion to my bank account but now EPS is telling me that it will take 24-72 hours to hit my account. I’ve never had this problem with my refund. This payment company must have screwed up some where, does anyone know if it will take longer than 24 hours. It says funding release date is today. And it is an ACH, should I have it tomorrow? Reply Mines is the same… crossing fingers for tomorrow me 2. Reply « Older Comments Newer Comments » Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Tax Refunds Where’s My Tax Refund? How to Check Your Refund Status Tax Refunds TurboTax AnswerXchange Question of the Month: When Will I Get My IRS Tax Refund? 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I have found that TurboTax is slower with the IRS process than other online sites. The same thing happened to me last year. Took up to two weeks to receive my refund. My sister used TaxAct she received her DD on Sunday. And that date is 2/6. I am still in the processing phase. Mine was accepted before hers. So it may take a little while. Reply
I filed and was accepted on 1/31 & mine still shows 1 bar and processing. I called the irs today and was told that my return and hundreds of others were “resequenced.” She says that so many returns came in early on that they had to resequence or push some of them off to be processed with the next batch. She went on to say that resequencing pushes you back a week, so if you filed on the 31st and it’s still processing, this is why. Finally, she said those of us who were resequenced will not see a status change until next week at the earliest:-( It’s a bunch of BS if you ask me… Reply
What? That SUCKS.! I can’t even find a number to talk to a person. Thank you for the info. I was going nuts trying to figure out what heck was going on. I filed 1/28 and accepted 1/28 still no up date but turbo tax says it was accepted. Only one bar shows on IRS web sight. What a mess, I guess I am in the same boat as you. The funny part is if we owed and was late they charge interest but we just have to sit and take it. Reply
What number did you call to talk to an actual person? I filed early and people that just filed 3 days ago already have 2/10 as their date to receive tax refund but mine is still on processing. Frustrating! Reply
Thank you for the information Alecia. This has been the most helpful post I have seen as I am waiting for a DD date because I filed on the 31st and my status is still in the “received” stage only. Reply
That is kind of good news. Mine was sent and accepted on the 31st but not until late at night. Mine has been on received for the whole week and trying to figure what is going on. I feel better reading this thanks! Reply
That’s kind of good news for me. I was accepted on Jan. 31st at 9pm, but I’m still at received.. so this helps me to have a little insight. Still sucks, I still have not heard from my state either. good luck to ya! Reply
My schedule date is today and I’m still waiting…its not even showing it has been sent yet on wheres my Refund Reply
To anyone that is expecting a refund today, 02/06/2014, SBTPG (1-877-908-7228) states that there has been a delay in refunds and those expecting their refund on the 6th, should be receiving it tomorrow, 02/07/2014. If you are having tax fees deducted from your return, you can call the number listed above for more information. Reply
If your DDD wasToday, Feb 6 2014 – it has been delayed for deposit until tomorrow Feb 7th. The deposit will post tomorrow and in some cases, up to 5 days later based on how your bank accepts and releases funds. This information can be confirmed through the online at https://cisc.sbtpg.com/index.aspx. Hope this helps some who are concerned. Reply
I called early this morning and inquired if my Direct Deposit date of today is still current, she said she could not give me a time however it is still scheduled to be released sometime today. Reply
Federal IRS said the same thing to me this morning and this afternoon. I asked her if there was a problem with the system she said only the wheres my refund system is having trouble. But not the system that sends the direct deposits. Reply
they told me up to 3 more weeks? but he sounded like he didnt know did you recieve anything yet ? Reply
I filed my taxes and I got the email from TurboTax that my federal has been accepted. However, when I checked the IRS refund-tracking website it now says that my return is being reviewed and that they are going to mail me a request for further information within 30 days. (Before the IRS site said that it was return was approved, but the refund was pending). Until then (when I send them back what they request), no refund. Does anyone know what this means? I’m worried because I’ve never had any problem before with my taxes, so why the review now, and what information could they possibly want that they don’t already have? Does this mean I’m being audited? — I have to admit I’m worried now. Any answers or explanations? Reply
Yup, that’s an audit! Have your dependents changed, kids?? Could someone else used your dependents?? Reply
Nothing changed on my taxes over the past years that I’ve been filing. Just not sure what’s going on.
With so many incidences of identity theft occurring, the IRS sometimes request additional information from filers to insure that the return is legitimate and that you are who you say you are. The same thing happened to my co-worker last year. It may not be an audit. Reply
Hi, Frank that does not mean you are being audited. Less than 1% of taxpayers are actually audited. They may just request some additional information or want you to send in an additional form. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply
Did you get your notice from the IRS, cause I am in the same situation. I got my notice and I have to fax in some proof of HOH and EIC, and hopefully thats the end of it..It has had me losing sleep for the past week not knowing what was wrong. I called TurboTax and the rep said” its like they throw all the returns in a bucket and pick ones to be reviewed” I don’t think so, I think the people who filed early are being targeted! filed 1/10 accepted 1/24 processed 1/31or so the site said..BS is what I say Reply
My refund said it would be deposited today 2/6 but it hasnt been and on the IRS website its not showing the “Refund Sent” bar in red. Is anyone else having this problem? Reply
Im having the same issue. still cannot check wmr due to unavailibility for attempting to check 3 to 4 times since 3am est. Therefore, I cannot even see if it has been sent. I live in NYS and filed with liberty tax service. They also gave me a Netspend prepaid card for easy dd. Reply
My refund was sent to EPS Financial where my tax preparer fee gets taken out. His fee was taken out and they sent my portion to my bank account but now EPS is telling me that it will take 24-72 hours to hit my account. I’ve never had this problem with my refund. This payment company must have screwed up some where, does anyone know if it will take longer than 24 hours. It says funding release date is today. And it is an ACH, should I have it tomorrow? Reply