The 2026 tax season will begin soon, but the filing process is also set to start in January. Taxpayers who file returns are always remain worried about their processing. To solve this problem, the IRS has introduced the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool.
This tool plays a crucial role in informing taxpayers about their refund. Using it, they can track if it is received, approved, or sent by the IRS. If you are one among those who are going to file a return for the tax year 2025, this tool is going to help you track your refund.
Every year millions file taxes, and many of them are unable to receive refunds because of errors or mistakes in their return, because they are unaware of it. But this tool informs them about it, so they can fix it and get their refunds. Read this article thoroughly to know all about it.
What is the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool?
The ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool is a tool that helps taxpayers know the real-time status of their federal tax refund. It can be accessed through the official website of the Internal Revenue Service and the IRS2Go mobile application.
To track the refund status using this tool, you are required to provide his or her social security number and other basic details. After e-filing the return, you have to wait at least 24 hours, and at least 4 weeks for on-paper filing, to track the status.
How to check the refund status using this tool?
In order to track the refund status using the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool, please go through the step-by-step instructions available below.
Through the web portal:
- Go to the official website of the Internal Revenue Service by visiting irs.gov/.
- Under this section of ‘Tools & Applications,’ click on the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ button.
- Find and click on the ‘Check your refund’ button to access the tool.
- Fill in your SSN, choose the tax year, opt for the filing status, fill in the refund amount in dollars, and click on the Submit button.
Via mobile application:
- Open the Play Store for your Android and the App Store for your iOS device.
- Tap on the search bar and write IRS2Go, and click the search icon.
- Download and install this mobile application.
- Run the application, and tap on the Refund tab.
- Fill in the tax year, SSN, filing status, and refund amount, and click the Get Status button.
After going through the instructions given above, you will successfully have checked that the IRS has received, approved, or sent your refund.
In case of any error or mistake on the tax return, it may be rejected. If something like this happened to you, first of all, you need to know the reason and what mistakes you have made in your return, and then file an amendment return by fixing it.
What’s the meaning of the different stages of refunds?
The ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool shows refund status as Received, Approved, and Sent, and the meaning of each stage is totally different from one another. Know about them from the below.
- Received: The IRS has received your return, but they are yet to review the details and documents and process it.
- Approved: Upon reviewing, the IRS has accepted your return, and now they will send the direct deposit in the next 7 to 10 days.
- Sent: The has sent the refund direct deposit; after its release, it will be received within a few hours.
Note that once the IRS releases the refund, direct deposit hardly takes 2 to 4 hours to be received in the bank account; in the case of a technical year, the waiting time can be up to 72 hours.
Disclaimer: The 2026 “Where’s My Refund?” tracker insights are general explanations of how the tool works. Actual refund updates and statuses come directly from the IRS system.