Where's my tax refund? How to track your payment from the IRS
Agency distributed 42.5M tax refunds during first four weeks of this year's tax season
Former Trump senior adviser Kevin Hassett discusses the impact of the COVID-19 stimulus on tax increases and his outlook for the economy.
It's a busy time for the IRS: In addition to delivering a third round of stimulus checks to millions of Americans, the agency is also mired in the months-long process of issuing tax refunds.
The agency distributed 42.5 million tax refunds during the first four weeks of this year's tax season, which started Feb. 12 and ends May 17, according to data released last Thursday. The average refund amount is $2,967, down slightly from $2,973 a year ago.
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During the same time period last year, the IRS had processed 59.2 million returns.
That's because, in part, the IRS did not start processing returns until Feb. 12 as the agency copes with a backlog of unprocessed returns from last year. It also had to send out the second stimulus checks that Congress approved with the passage of the $900 billion coronavirus relief package in December.
Tax season typically kicks off at the end of January. The agency announced last week that it would extend the typical deadline of April 15 to May 17 in order to give taxpayers an additional month to file returns and pay any outstanding levies.
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If you already filed your taxes and are wondering where your refund is, there's an easy way to check: Like the stimulus payments, the IRS has set up a "Check My Refund Status" tool for people to track the status of their tax refund.
When you submit your information, you can see when the IRS received your taxes, when your refund has been approved and when your refund has been delivered.
The information is all available 24 hours after you've filed your taxes electronically, or four weeks after submitting a paper return. To use the tool, you need to provide your social security number, filing status and exact refund amount.
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Americans should file their taxes electronically, the IRS said, projecting that nine out of 10 taxpayers could receive their refund within 21 days of doing so. If you choose to file a paper return, the IRS has warned that there could be delays.