The PATH Act is a law passed by the US federal government back in 2015. It includes many tax provisions; one of them affects tax refunds for certain Americans. Basically, it prevents the Internal Revenue Service from processing the EITC/ACTC refund before the February of any tax season.
For the tax year 2025, whose filing is likely to be started from January 2026, the taxpayers who won’t claim earned income tax credit or additional child tax credit can expect the refund by late January 2026, but those who will claim any of them or both will have to wait until the last week of February 2026.
If you are eligible for the ACTC and/or EITC for the tax year 2025, you can expect a huge refund from the IRS. But it will be received with a little delay for the early files because of the PATH Act. Here, we have shared an estimated refund schedule to make sense of when you will receive your direct deposit.
What’s the PATH Act Refund Schedule for 2026?
In the 2026 tax season, the IRS will process both electronic and on-paper filings but release the refund only through direct deposit, as the paper check is already discontinued. It is estimated that the very initial EITC/ACTC refund will be received in late February 2026 or early March 2026 due to the PATH Act.
Note that the IRS takes up to 3 weeks to process a refund after e-filing; for the on-paper filing, the estimated timing is around 6-7 weeks. The table below carries an estimated schedule for the EITC/ACTC refund, based on your filing date—you can check on which date you will get your direct deposit.
| E-Filed | Received by the IRS | Approved by the IRS | Sent by the IRS |
| Early January to mid-February 2026 | Day after filing the return | Most probably by the third week of February 2025 | High anticipated by the late February 2025 |
| On Feb 21 | On Feb 22 | By Mar 4 | By Mar 14 |
| On Feb 28 | On Mar 1 | By Mar 11 | By Mar 21 |
| On Mar 7 | On Mar 8 | By Mar 18 | By Mar 28 |
| On Mar 14 | On Mar 15 | By Mar 27 | By Apr 6 |
| On Mar 21 | On Mar 22 | By Apr 2 | By Apr 12 |
| On Mar 28 | On Mar 29 | By Apr 10 | By Apr 20 |
If you file on paper for the EITC/ACTC refund, you will have to face some delay because of the PATH Act. Your refund will be released as per the schedule; in case of early filing, you may expect your refund by early March 2026.
How to check the PATH Act Refund Status 2026?
After filing for the EITC/ACTC refund, you can easily check its status with the Where’s My Refund? tool. Note that after electronic filing, you have to wait at least 24 hours to check its status, and in the case of on-paper filing, you have to wait for four weeks.
The step-by-step instructions to check the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit refund are listed below.
- Go to the official website of the Internal Revenue Service, irs.gov/.
- On the homepage you will find a button of ‘Use refund tracker’; click on it to access the Where’s My Refund? tool.
- Fill in your social security number, and choose your tax year as 2025.
- Select the refund filing status, enter the refund you are entitled to get, and click on the Submit button.
After going through the above step-by-step instruction, you will successfully check that your refund is either received, approved, or sent by the IRS. Let’s understand the meaning of each stage of the EITC/ACTC refund.
- If it is going as Received, it means the agency has received your return, but they are yet to process it.
- If it is showing as Approved, it means they have processed your refund after reviewing your documents, but they are yet to release it.
- If it is showing as Sent, it means they have released your refund and the direct deposit will be received shortly.
Who will get the PATH Act refund in 2026?
The earned income tax credit (EITC) or additional child tax credit (ACTC) refund will be received only by those individuals whose tax liability is zero or lower than the credit he or she is eligible to receive by claiming any of these tax credits or both.
If you claim EITC, you can expect to get the maximum refund of $8,046—if your AGI is below the threshold, your investment income also doesn’t exceed the limit, and you have at least 3 qualifying children or relatives—and up to $1,700 for each child under 17 years of age by claiming the ACTC.
Disclaimer: PATH Act refund timelines for 2026 are subject to federally mandated rules. Only the IRS can confirm when refunds are processed or released.
