‘Where’s My Refund’ : IRS Updates Status for Tax Payers Filing and Waiting for a Tax Refund

As millions of Americans file their taxes online, in person or by mail, the number one question is often “Where’s My Refund.” To answer that question, the IRS actually has a ‘Wheres My Refund’ calculator tool to give tax filers an estimate on how long they can expect to wait to get their income tax refund.

Typically, the IRS estimate is only about 10 days if you elect to receive your tax refund through direct deposit to your bank account. The refund time is also sped up by using many of the free online tax filing services like TurboTax, H&R Block online, and even the IRS.gov ‘Free File’ option on the IRS.gov web site.



Currently, however, the ‘where’s my refund’ calculations have not been accurate. Currently many are receiving their refunds about a week later than the Where’s My Refund tool estimated.


According to the IRS, the issue “relates to fine-tuning IRS systems to adjust for new safeguards put in place this tax season to provide stronger protection against refund fraud.”

While the technical glitch in the system was to have been fixed by now, there are still some issues with consistency of the estimates being reported. Experts in the industry indicate that the issue stems from the integration between the old systems at the IRS and new systems which allow for the e-file with the IRS.

The IRS posted the following message on the ‘Where’s My Refund’ section of the IRS.gov web site:

“Update: We are aware that some taxpayers who have filed electronically and received an acknowledgement from the IRS are concerned when they visit “Where’s My Refund” and are told that we have no information regarding their return. This is a temporary situation, and we expect to resolve the matter in a few days. At that time, taxpayers will be able to get an expected refund date when they visit “Where’s My Refund.”

“If a taxpayer received an acknowledgment message that their e-filed tax return has been received, they can be assured that the IRS has the tax return even though “Where’s My Refund” does not reflect that. Taxpayers should not call the IRS unless specifically directed by “Where’s My Refund,” as there is no new information to give them.

“We expect the vast majority of tax refunds to continue to be issued within the historical range of 10 to 21 days. The IRS is taking steps to update information so that Where’s My Refund has current information. The IRS apologizes for any inconvenience and will provide updated information as soon as possible.”