Tax News

Your tax refund still hasn’t arrived and it should have by now? Here’s what might be going on

Tax season has been going on for some time and millions have received their refunds. Here’s what to do if you are still waiting.

Erin Scott

Maite Knorr-Evans

Maite joined the AS USA in 2021, bringing her experience as a research analyst investigating illegal logging to the team. Maite’s interest in politics propelled her to pursue a degree in international relations and a master's in political philosophy. At AS USA, Maite combines her knowledge of political economy and personal finance to empower readers by providing answers to their most pressing questions.

Update: Apr 28th, 2025 18:30 EDT

Those who filed their 2024 tax return on or before the tax deadline of April 15 may still be waiting for their return.

To avoid these delays, it is always advisable to submit your return as soon as possible, as the IRS often begins to accumulate a backlog as the deadline approaches.

Generally, the IRS can issue a tax refund within 21 days if the return is filed electronically. For those who filed on April 15, the 21-day period would conclude on Tuesday, April 29.

What could create a delay in the distribution of your refund?

If a refund has not yet been issued, then it is likely that your filing was incomplete, had an error, or was missing information. If this is the case with your return, the IRS will attempt to contact you so that you can correct the errors. Until the errors have been resolved, the agency will not distribute a refund.

Those who file with paper may have to wait up to six months to receive their refund.

How to check the status of your tax return

The IRS has a tool called ’Where’s My Refund?’ which is accessible online. This allows taxpayers to check the status of their refund after providing their Social Security Number, the refund total, and their tax filing status. All of this information should be available on your return, which can be used as a reference. Information is available 24 hours after a filing has been submitted.

Should the IRS flag your return as having an error, the status on the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool will change and ask that you correct them. However, this feature requires that you file a return electronically instead of on paper.

What are the different statuses on the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool?

Once your return has been processed and your refund confirmed, the tool’s online portal will give you the following information:

The date on which your return was received by the IRS
Confirmation that your refund has been approved
Notification that the refund has been distributed and should be on its way to your account.

For those who have not seen any changes to their filing status and filed a paper return, the IRS offers a helpline, which can be reached at 1-800-829-4477.

Calling the IRS to check refund status

In some cases, you can call the IRS to check the status of your tax return.

Individual taxpayers can call the IRS at 800-829-1040 if:

It’s been 21 days or more since you e-filed your return
It’s been six weeks since you mailed a paper tax return
Where’s My Refund? tells you to contact the IRS

Calling outside of these conditions isn’t recommended because the IRS representatives won’t be able to provide additional information on your tax return status.

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