Where’s your income tax refund? Read on
What do you do if your IRS tax refund still hasn’t arrived? Now that the IRS has received most 2023 tax filings, and should have sent your refund, it’s worth investigating.
How to proceed depends on how you filed, who filed for you (such as an accounting firm, online tax prep service or tax preparer) and how you expected your refund to arrive.
First, if you’re expecting an online refund deposit, carefully check your tax return to make sure you listed your banking information correctly. And check your bank statement online, which you’ve probably been doing regularly.
If you used a tax preparation service, contact them first. Many services designate your refund to come back to THEIR account — and you might not have noticed that. Often, they say they will take their tax prep fees out of your refund — and this is their way of making sure they have access to the money! You might need to contact them to get your remaining refund.
Check your return to see if the person who prepared it gave instructions that your anticipated refund instead be applied to next year’s taxes! Perhaps you missed that in the discussions.
If, at this point, you’re still frustrated and have tried to call the IRS but can’t get through, here are some suggestions. Do them in this order:
—Where’s my refund? Go to www.IRS.gov and in the search box put the term “where’s my refund.” That will take you to a page that explains that your refund information should be posted 24 hours after you e-file a current-year return, three or four days after you e-file a prior-year return, or four weeks after you file a paper return.
Or go directly to www.IRS.gov/refunds. Click on the “search” button and you’ll be asked to input your Social Security number, tax year, filing status and the exact whole dollar refund amount shown on your tax return.
When you click “submit,” you’ll get the latest status on your refund.
If the refund is for the current (2023) filing, you can also call their specific toll-free number: 800-829-1954. For previous years, you must check online.
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