IRS Refund Tracker: When Should Your Refund Arrive?
Tell us how and when you filed. We will show you the window the IRS normally works to, the date your refund becomes officially late, and what to do if it is stuck. We ask for nothing personal — no Social Security number, no amounts, no email. Everything below is worked out in your browser.
Work out your refund window
These are the IRS's own published processing times. They describe what usually happens, not what is promised to happen, and any individual return can take longer. Only the IRS can tell you where your specific refund is — check it free at Where’s My Refund.
What the codes on your transcript mean
If Where’s My Refund only says “still being processed,” your account transcript usually says more. These are the codes that matter for a refund:
| Code | What it means for your refund |
|---|---|
| 846 | Refund issued. The date beside it is the day the IRS released the money. |
| 570 | Something is holding the account. The refund will not release until it clears. |
| 571 / 572 | The hold above has been released. |
| 971 | A notice was issued. Watch the mail — it explains what the IRS wants. |
| 420 / 424 | The return was referred for examination or audit screening. |
| 898 | All or part of the refund was applied to another debt through the Treasury Offset Program. |
A fuller list is on our IRS transcript codes page, and what to do when a refund is stuck walks through the usual causes.
Refund taken, or stuck behind something bigger?
A refund that never arrives is often a symptom — an unfiled year, a balance the IRS is offsetting against, or an identity hold. If that sounds like your situation, we will look at your account and tell you what is actually going on, free.
Get a free case review or call (888) 825-7779
How IRS refund timing actually works
The 21-day guideline applies to e-filed returns only
The IRS says it issues most refunds from electronically filed returns within 21 days of accepting the return. Paper returns take substantially longer, and the IRS asks that you allow at least four weeks before the return even appears in its system. These are typical processing times, not commitments, and any individual return can take longer.
Some refunds are held by law until mid-February
A return can be pulled out of normal processing for identity verification, a math error, a missing form, a mismatch with what an employer reported, or an offset against another debt. The IRS also cannot legally issue a refund that includes the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit before mid-February, no matter how early the return was filed.
There is a point where calling is worth it
The IRS asks that you not call about a refund until 21 days have passed for an electronically filed return, or six weeks for a paper return. Calling earlier will not speed anything up, because the representative sees the same information Where’s My Refund shows you.
Your transcript says more than the refund tool does
Code 846 on an account transcript means the refund has been issued, and the date beside it is the date the IRS released the payment. Code 570 means an additional account action is holding the refund, and code 971 means a notice was issued explaining something about the account.
This tool does not look up your refund
No. Only the IRS can tell you the status of a specific refund, and doing that requires your Social Security number, filing status and exact refund amount. This tool asks for none of that and sends nothing anywhere. It tells you when a refund filed your way would normally arrive, when it is late enough that the IRS will discuss it, and what to do at that point.