Find out exactly where your refund is.

How long refunds take

• The IRS says it sends most refunds for e-filed returns within 21 days.
• If you claimed the earned income credit or the additional child tax credit, the law doesn’t let the IRS send any of your refund before mid-February, even if you filed in January. If you e-filed, chose direct deposit and your return has no issues, the IRS says it arrives by early March.
• A paper return takes weeks longer than an e-filed one, and an amended return (Form 1040-X) usually takes several months.

Where’s My Refund, or your transcript?

The IRS’s Where’s My Refund tool (irs.gov/refunds) shows three steps: received, approved, sent. When a refund is stuck, it rarely says why.

Your account transcript shows the lines on your account itself: every code, date and amount. That’s where a hold shows up, and what releases it. Get it from your IRS online account at irs.gov/account.

What the codes on your transcript mean

150

Tax return filedThe IRS processed your return and recorded the tax on it.

806

Withholding creditedFederal tax withheld from your pay (W-2s and 1099s) was credited.

766

Credit to your accountA refundable credit (such as the child tax credit or another credit) was added to your account.

768

Earned income creditThe earned income credit was added to your account.

570

Additional account action pendingYour refund is paused while the IRS reviews something on your return or account.

571

Hold releasedThe hold from code 570 was released.

971

Miscellaneous actionThe IRS recorded an action on your account, most often that it mailed you a notice or letter. The line's description says which.

810

Refund freezeA freeze is on your refund. It usually means the IRS needs something from you or is checking a credit.

811

Refund freeze releasedThe refund freeze from code 810 was released.

846

Refund issuedThe IRS sent your refund.

290

Additional tax assessedThe IRS added tax to your account after an adjustment. A $0 amount usually means a review finished without changing your tax.

898

Refund applied to non-IRS debtPart or all of your refund was used to pay a debt you owe another agency, such as past-due child support, a state tax debt or a federal student loan (Treasury Offset Program).

If your refund is on hold

• A 570 or an 810 pauses your refund while the IRS checks something.
• A 971 often follows: it usually means the IRS mailed you a notice, and that notice says what it needs from you.
• A 571 or an 811 releases the hold. An 846 with a date means the IRS sent your refund that day.

When to call the IRS

The IRS asks you to call only if it has been 21 days or more since you e-filed, more than 6 weeks since you mailed a paper return, or Where’s My Refund tells you to. If a letter came, the number to call is on it: have it in front of you when you call.