Where’s my tax refund?

Once you send your return to the IRS, you’re probably itching to get your refund.

The IRS wants to get your money to you as quickly as it can. It aims to issue most refunds to taxpayers within 21 days — if you filed your return electronically. It also offers a handy service, aptly called “Where’s My Refund?” that can help pinpoint exactly when you can expect to receive your money. ( There’s also an IRS2Go mobile app.)

If you mailed in your return, your refund will arrive later. How much later? The IRS encourages you to not even look up when to expect it until a month after it receives it.

There are some other factors that can delay your refund, too. For example, if you’re claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, the IRS did not start releasing refunds until Feb. 15. It cautions that, due to processing issues, you may not receive your funds until about Feb. 27 — and that’s assuming that you filed electronically, you set up direct deposit for your refund, and your return didn’t experience any processing delays along the way. This inconvenience is because the IRS is trying to thwart identity theft and fraud.

Your refund can also get delayed if your tax return was incomplete, contained errors or was suspected of being involved in identity theft or fraud. If there are liens against you, you owe back taxes or you face refund offsets ( perhaps because you owe money for child support, outstanding student loans or state income taxes), you can also expect delays.

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