The IRS is now accepting 2020 tax returns. Did you know that 24 hours after you file your taxes online, you can begin tracking your tax refund? Plus, the sooner you file your taxes, the sooner you could get your 2020 refund, including missing stimulus check money through the Recovery Rebate Credit.
Setting up direct deposit is another way to get your money in hand more quickly. If a third stimulus check is approved — and here’s the third payment timeline so far — your household’s total stimulus payment would be delivered as a refundable tax credit in advance payments (PDF). In addition, if you earned less in 2020 than the year before, you might be eligible for a larger third stimulus check if you file your taxes before the new payment is approved. (Here’s how.)
This year, the IRS is asking taxpayers to avoid filing paper returns, if possible, to keep from compounding a current processing delay caused by a backlog from last year (remember, the 2019 tax season was extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic). Also — and this is important — if you file a paper return, you won’t be able to start tracking your refund for at least four weeks. Below we’ll walk you through how to track your 2020 refund after you file your tax return.
These two IRS tools let you track your refund — here’s how
Before you start trying to track your tax refund this year, there are several things you’ll need on hand. Your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), your filing status — for example, single, married, head of household — and your exact refund amount in whole dollars, which can be found on your tax return.
Using the IRS’ tool Where’s My Refund, enter your Social Security number or ITIN, your filing status and your exact refund amount, then press Send. If you entered your information correctly, you’ll be taken to a page that shows the status of your refund. If not, you may be asked to verify your personal tax data and try again. If all the information looks correct, you’ll need to enter the date you filed your taxes, along with how you filed — either electronically or on paper.
There’s also a mobile app you can use to check your tax refund status called IRS2Go, which is useful if you’re constantly checking to see when your refund will arrive.
The IRS updates the data in this tool overnight each day, so if you don’t see a status change after 24 hours or more, check back the next day.
