Refund Anticipation Date: Where's Your Refund?

The Free Federal Edition or basic package is free on eFile.com. For more complicated returns, use the Deluxe or Premium version; start free, and the eFile Tax App will up or downgrade you based on your entries.

Doing taxes can be stressful for your mind and your wallet. We at eFile.com understand this and will do our best to get you your tax refund as fast as possible. You also have our promise as your guarantee that the eFile platform will calculate the highest possible tax refund you are entitled to based on the information you enter. Use the tool below to get an estimated date on when you can expect your refund.

Tax Tip: e-filing your taxes on eFile.com and using bank direct deposit for your expected refund is the fastest and safest way for you to receive your federal and state tax refunds. Don't be Penny Wise and Tax Foolish! Do IT Less Taxing at eFile.com.

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Where's my IRS refund? | Where's my state refund?

Let's get started with the DATEucator tool below:

• Enter the actual or estimated IRS tax return acceptance date - the acceptance date is the date the IRS acknowledged your tax return; it is not the date the tax return was e-filed or submitted to the IRS. eFile.com will display this date inside your account.
• Select your preferred tax refund transfer method, and then the tool will show you the earliest and latest estimated IRS refund anticipation date.

• Find out where your IRS or state-processed tax refund is.
• Estimate your taxes with the free tax calculator.
• See more free and easy-to-use tax tools that could help you pay less taxes or increase your tax refund.
• Get the status of your state tax refund.

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Tax Refund Direct Deposit

Select the bank direct deposit transfer method to receive federal and state tax refunds. Once the IRS has accepted your tax return, your tax refund will be electronically transferred from the IRS (U.S. Treasury) to the bank account you entered during your online tax return process at eFile.com. There are no fees for bank transfers or processing if your tax return was free or if you paid by credit card. Estimated tax refund dates are based on the IRS acceptance date and are not guaranteed by eFile.com or the IRS. Depending on IRS security procedures, the tax refund date could take up to 21 days after the IRS tax return acceptance date or as early as seven days via the bank direct deposit method.

Certain tax credits may delay the issuing of your refund. For example, if you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and/or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), it might take longer for the IRS to process your return. The IRS is required to not issue entire tax refunds with the EIC or ACTC until late February. The IRS intends to provide taxpayers with EITC or ACTC credits with an update on their refund typically after February 15, and those refunds will likely show up by the first week of March. This is for identity and security reasons to ensure you receive the refund instead of another person committing tax return fraud in your name. The entire refund is held, not just the portion associated with the EITC or ACTC.

IRS Security Procedures and Tax Refund Speed

Since the IRS added security measures for filing 2016 and later tax returns to decrease tax fraud, your 2022 Refund may be delayed in 2023. The IRS requires online tax websites to add identity verification steps to ensure that the taxpayer filing their return is exactly who they say they are (i.e., Identity Projection PIN, security questions/answers, stronger passwords, etc.). As a result of these new security measures, the IRS may issue more refunds as paper checks, even if taxpayers request direct deposit.

Additionally, due to various complications, the IRS has seen extensive delays in processing 2020 and 2021 Returns, thus affecting how quickly they issued refunds for these years. Taxpayers may also experience delays in receiving their 2022 Return refunds in 2023.

Tax Refund Is Lower Than Expected

If you prepared and e-filed your tax return on eFile.com (or on any online tax site) and the amount of your direct deposit refund is lower than the refund calculated on your federal tax return, then your tax refund may have been adjusted or offset by the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) via the IRS tax return processing procedure, not eFile.com. The program is run by the Financial Management Services (FMS). Under TOP, various federal and state government agencies are authorized to seize outstanding federal or state debts from federal tax refunds.

The FMS may offset part or all of your federal tax refund to pay:

• Unpaid child support
• Federal non-tax debts (including student loan repayments)
• State income tax debts
• State unemployment compensation debts.

You may also receive an IRS Letter CP12 or other notice explaining the adjustment. Additionally, many taxpayers saw adjusted refunds due to incorrect reporting of the Recovery Rebate Credit or stimulus payments. This was due to user entry - not failure of the tax preparation software - and was adjusted by the IRS, often leading to longer processing delays. If you are filing a 2020 or 2021 Return to claim any missing stimulus payments, enter the payment amount accurately to avoid this delay and adjustment. Stimulus payments are not claimed on a 2022 Return, so this reason does not apply to 2022 and future taxes.

Tax Refund Offset Information

An offset for non-tax debts occurs after the IRS verifies your refund to the Financial Management Service for payment but before FMS direct deposits the refund or mails a paper check to you. The Financial Management Service (or FMS) was part of the United States Department of Treasury. However, it is now under the Bureau of Fiscal Service. FMS is responsible for, among other things, issuing tax refunds and other federal payments and collecting delinquent debts owed to the government. Though an offset reduces the amount of your expected refund via direct deposit or check, it does not delay the time you will receive the remaining refund (if any) after the offset.

You will receive a notice from FMS via mail if your refund has been offset. The notice will list the original refund and offset amounts. It will also include the agency that received the offset payment and their contact information.

If you have non-tax debts, you can contact the agency you owe before you file your tax return. That way, you can determine if the agency submitted your debts to TOP for refund offset.

To dispute an offset, you must contact the agency that received the offset part of your refund, not the IRS or FMS. The notice will include instructions on contacting the appropriate agency or agencies. If you have further questions about your offset notice, you can call the Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107.

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