How to Check the Status of Your Tax Refund Online

With March coming to a close, early bird tax filers will soon be reaping their reward. And after spending hours sifting through documents, tallying deductions, and navigating prep software, a refund is a much-deserved prize. If you’re still waiting for your check to arrive, there’s no need to sit by your mailbox in vain: The IRS makes it easy to check the status of your refund online.

To see if your refund is on its way, you’ll need three pieces of information: your social security number, your filing status (married, single, etc.), and the exact refund amount shown on your tax return. Once you’ve inputted all that, you’ll be able to see if and when your refund was sent.

If it’s been less than 24 hours since you filed your taxes online, or less than four weeks since you mailed them in, be patient. The IRS may not have had the chance to process your return. And if you haven't seen your refund 21 days after you filed electronically or six weeks after dropping your return in the mail, you may need to pick up the phone. In such cases, you can call the IRS to clear up the cause of the delay.