We aim to process the majority of electronically lodged tax returns within 12 business days. If you can't lodge electronically, lodging a paper tax return can take up to 50 days for us to process manually.
If you filed on paper, it may take 6 months or more to process your tax return. For service delay details, see Status of Operations. The IRS issues more than 9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days. However, it's possible your tax return may require additional review and take longer.
Payments take approximately 24-48 hours to be credited to your ATO customer account. Payments made after 6.00pm (AEST), or on weekends or public holidays will be processed the next business day. Will you receive a transaction receipt?
Check the status of your income tax refund for 2022, 2021, and 2020. If you e-file, allow 36 hours for your information to appear and 3 weeks to get your refund. If you mail your return, it will take longer.
You must wait at least 24 hours after you get the acknowledgment e-mail that your tax return was received by the IRS. Your e-filed return was accepted (received) by the IRS less than 24 hours ago. Wait at least 24 hours after acceptance before using WMR. Your return is still pending.
Not to worry–the IRS has a dedicated Refund Hotline set up at 1-800-829-1954. Make sure to have your Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification Number, filing status and exact refund amount available when you make the call.
Average tax refund in 2022: $3,039
The average individual income tax refund was $3,039 for the 2021 tax-filing year, a 7.5% increase from 2020 when the average refund was $2,827. For many consumers, tax refunds are a significant influx of extra cash they get each year.
(updated July 7, 2022) We issue most refunds in less than 21 calendar days. However, if you filed on paper and are expecting a refund, it could take six months or more to process your return.
Use Where's My Refund, call us at 800-829-1954 (toll-free) and use the automated system, or speak with a representative by calling 800-829-1040 (see telephone assistance for hours of operation). If you filed a married filing jointly return, you can't initiate a trace using the automated systems.
As shown in the figure, IRS addressed its backlog of 2021 paper returns. However, as of late September 2022, IRS had about 12.4 million returns to process, resulting in refund delays for millions of taxpayers.
If you don't receive your refund in 21 days, your tax return might need further review. This may happen if your return was incomplete or incorrect. The IRS may send you instructions through the mail if it needs additional information in order to process your return.
After you submit your return
The email will be sent to the email address you used when you created your account. If the IRS rejects your return, the email will list the reasons for rejection (error) and provide a link you should use to resolve the rejection issue.
An incomplete return, an inaccurate return, an amended return, tax fraud, claiming tax credits, owing certain debts for which the government can take part or all of your refund, and sending your refund to the wrong bank due to an incorrect routing number are all reasons that a tax refund can be delayed.
Is There a Delay on 2022 Tax Refunds? Last year, many taxpayers ended up waiting longer than the usual 21 days — some as long as eight weeks — to receive their refunds as the IRS was dealing with the backlog of returns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The IRS is still working through this backlog of 2020 tax returns.
Reasons Your Tax Refund Can Be Delayed
Missing information. A need for additional review. Possible identity theft or tax fraud. A claim for an earned income tax credit or an additional child tax credit.
Your refund may be delayed if you made math errors or if you forgot to sign your return or include your Social Security number. It may also be delayed if your dependents' information doesn't match IRS records, or if you left out a corresponding schedule or form to support a deduction or credit, says Pickering.
If you haven't received your tax refund after at least 21 days of filing online or six months of mailing your paper return, go to a local IRS office or call the federal agency (check out our list of IRS phone numbers that could get you help faster).
If you haven't heard anything three weeks after filing your return, it's time to check in with the IRS. “After 21 days, that would be the only time you'd realize that something didn't go through as normal,” Ashcraft says, “and you can talk to an IRS representative.”
If your tax return status is "Still Being Processed" your tax return could be essentially on hold until the IRS corrects any issues and/or gets the additional information from you to continue processing your return.
Online returns process within 2 weeks (14 days) while paper takes up to 10 weeks (50 business days). Paper returns can take up to 7 weeks to show in our systems. If your tax return requires manual checks processing it may take longer.
As a rule if you earn less than $18,200 you pay zero tax. All of the tax you paid during the year is refunded to you. However, once you start earning a little more and your income moves above the tax free threshold, you'll no longer get all of your tax back on your return.
If you paper-filed, wait at least 4 weeks before checking Where's My Refund?. The IRS is taking more than 21 days (and up to 90 to 120 days), to issue refunds for tax returns with the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. You should only contact the IRS if: It's been 21 days or more since you e-filed.
Early filers may have to wait for refunds. One reason for this is because the IRS may still be making changes to their processes. That could include updated security measures or process tweaks due to changes in the tax code.