It's been longer than 21 days since the IRS received my return and I haven’t gotten my refund. Why?​ Some tax returns take longer to process than others for many reasons, including when a return:

• Needs further review in general
• Errors, Incomplete, inconsistencies
• You claimed an Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit and due to the legal law PATH ACT, the IRS must wait until mid-February to process refunds.
• College Credit
  
• Is affected by identity theft or fraud
• Includes a Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation PDF, which could take up to 14 weeks to process

IRS will contact you by mail when (or if) they need more information to process your return. You can contact the IRS at (800)829-1040 or check the online at Where’s My Refund? for updated information on your refund.

According to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, the IRS cannot issue EITC and CTC refunds before mid-February. The IRS expects most EITC/CTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards by the first week of March, if they chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with their tax return. Check Where’s My Refund for your personalized refund date.
Where’s My Refund? on the IRS.gov website remains the best way to check the status of a refund. So EITC/CTC filers will not see an update to their refund status until late February, early March 2026.

All or part of your refund may have been used (offset) to pay off past-due federal tax, state income tax, state unemployment compensation debts, child support, spousal support, or other federal nontax debts, such as student loans. To find out if you may have an offset or if you have questions about an offset, contact the IRS to which you owe the debt.
IRS also may have changed your refund amount because they made changes to your tax return. This may include corrections to any incorrect Recovery Rebate Credit amount. You’ll get a notice explaining the changes. You can also check online at Where’s My Refund?
Tax Topic 203, Refund Offsets for Unpaid Child Support, Certain Federal and State Debts, and Unemployment Compensation Debts has more information about refund offsets.

​The Internal Revenue Service hasn't announced the date they will start accepting and processing 2025 tax returns. In the past years, the IRS has started processing returns mid-January. Here are some important dates to remember.

• Late January 2026: The date the IRS officially begins accepting and processing electronic tax returns (e-file opening).
• February 2, 2026: The deadline for employers to send out W-2 forms and certain 1099 forms.
• Mid-February 2026: Refunds for returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) are legally delayed until around this time to verify credits and prevent fraud.
• April 15, 2026: The standard deadline to file your 2025 tax return and pay any taxes owed.
• October 15, 2026: The deadline to file if you requested an automatic extension (Form 4868) by April 15, though any taxes owed were still due in April. 

​Once per day, usually at night. There’s no need to check more often. If you do, you'll get a message stating "You've had to many attempts and try again another day."