Tuesday, April 23rd 2024, 1:17 pm
More than 30 million Americans waited until the last two weeks of the tax-filing season to send their returns to the IRS. Many of them may now be wondering how long it will take for their refunds to hit their bank accounts.
It's not a small financial issue, as tax refunds often represent many households' largest check throughout the year, helping families pay down debt, build up emergency savings or even splurge on purchases. The average 2024 tax refund is 3.8% higher than a year ago, at $2,948, according to the latest IRS data.
Luckily, there are a few easy ways to track the status of your refund, such as the IRS' "Where's my refund?" website or its IRS2Go mobile app, which can be used on mobile phones and other similar devices. For the current tax season, the IRS said it improved the tracking services by providing more detailed answers when people make their queries.
"This is the largest windfall that many people get all year," Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman told CBS New York. "It's actually not a great practice to get a tax refund — it's actually better to adjust your withholding so you get your money in bits and pieces throughout the year."
But some people like getting a lump sum in their tax refund because it effectively works as a forced savings plan, providing them with one large check each year that they can then put into service, whether that's paying down debt or making a large purchase, Rossman noted.
Here's how to track your refund.
The IRS says you can check the status of your refund through its "Where's My Refund?" page as soon as 24 hours after your return was filed electronically.
You'll need to provide the site with a few basic pieces of information:
The IRS also said it updated the service to provide more information to taxpayers, such as alerting them if the agency needs them to respond to a letter requesting more data.
The IRS also has a mobile app called IRS2Go that works similarly to the "Where's My Refund?" website. The app, which you can download the app on any iOS or Android device, asks for several pieces of information to pull up your refund data:
The IRS operates a phone line for refund data, although it says it's aimed at people who don't have internet access.
If that's your situation, you can call the refund hotline at 800-829-1954 to check on the current year's tax refund. To check on an amended return for prior years, call 866-464-2050.
Yes, but only when the IRS is closer to sending the check. The app tracks three stages:
April 23rd, 2024
July 12th, 2024
February 22nd, 2024
February 16th, 2024
October 7th, 2024
October 7th, 2024