Where is my refund? IRS has changes in tax season 2025: NPR

The IRS began to accept tax returns on January 27 – and before April 15 Federal deadline, the Agency expects to receive more than 140 million individual tax returns. This means that millions of people ask a question: When do I get my refund money?

About 28% of the 11.7 million returns treated by the IRS As per the IRS.

When the current filing season began, “IRS got into a strong position. It’s good for taxpayers,” says Janet Holtzblatt, a senior mate at Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, NPR, with reference to the agency’s recent customer service investment.

Of course, many federal agencies are now burned by the Trump administration’s controversial target of shrinking staff size and elimination of programs (more about it below).

Here is a quick guide to navigating in the 2025 -cat -archiving season:

Check your tax return status

If you are about to archive or have already done so, you can trace the trend in your return on tax year 2024 online. IRS has a dedicated Where is my refund page It shows the status of your tax return within 24 hours after you have filed electronically.

To Check your Refund StatusIf you need to know the “exact reimbursement amount of the entire dollar shown on your tax return,” IRS says, make sure you have it on hand.

The tracking tool helps you follow your return through three main stages: when your return is received (and processed); Once your refund is approved (and the expected date of its issue); and confirmation that the refund has been sent.

Your refund must come within three weeks

IRS says most refunds will be issued within 21 days of your filing date. As in recent years, IRS recommends the archiving electronically and uses direct deposit to get a refund faster.

But if you filed early and are looking for a refund related to two situations – the earned income tax credit and the extra tax credit – you may have to wait a little longer. It’s because the IRS can only issue these refunds After mid -FebruaryUnder a claim in the PATH ACT from 2015.

The delay “was an effort to prevent or limit identity fraud,” Holtzblatt told NPR.

In these cases, she adds, “The refunds would not start to be paid until after February 15, which means that people who will not get it until early March.”

Millions more people can archive free online

The free direct file system has been expanded since last year’s pilot program for the 12 State State growing to 25 participating states this year. It is aimed at people with relatively straightforward tax returns.

“When they did the pilot, they found that a large percentage of those who used it and completed it were very satisfied,” says Holtzblatt about the tool on the IRS site.

The extension of the program is “a big step for the IRS and for taxpayers,” Holtzblatt says, noting that it offers online guidance to help people archive electronically free of charge.

Direct file is available in several large states, such as New York, Texas, Florida and California. But files in other states and District of Columbia are out of luck (although All 50 states were invited to participate).

There are also limits to the types and income amounts you can report. For example, direct file cannot handle performance or rental income. And wages for a single files can’t be more than $ 200,000.

You can check your eligibility here.

IRS is facing changes

The IRS had long awaited relief in 2022 in the form of $ 80 billion from the inflation reduction law along with its regular appropriations. The money followed many years of reports that the agency was underfunded and understaffed; Among other things, it was intended to help the agency update its computer systems, increase customer service and improve tax enforcement.

A study from 2021 found that the US government is missing out on 600 billion dollars in unpaid taxes Every year. The IRS had also reported on long telephone time times and a growing demand with unprocessed returns.

When the IRS got the first infusion of money in 2022, “they immediately went out and hired about 5,000 new people who could help taxpayers,” says Holtzblatt. “They are there to make the archiving season more smoother.”

But Congress has itching some left 40 billion dollars of the IRS -Finansing – First in a budget agreement in 2023 and again in December.

“The deficiency in IRS grants is likely to continue and maybe even rise,” Holtzblatt says, adding that freezer hiring would also hamper the agency.

As for direct file, IRS has said that the program is permanent. But its fate was overcast earlier this month when Elon Musk, billionaire chief of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tweeted that he “deleted” agency It worked on the online tool.