IRS Refund Payment Status 2026: Check Approval, Sent & Received Status!

The Internal Revenue Service has started releasing refunds for tax year 2025 from the first week of February 2026. Those who filed their returns electronically in the initial stage have already received their refunds, and many more are going to receive them very soon.

For the convenience of the taxpayers, the IRS has provided the facility of the ‘Where is My Refund?’ tool and the IRS2Go mobile application, through which they can check the status of their refund payment. By reading this article you will get complete information in this regard.

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IRS Refund Payment Status 2026

The payment status of the tax refund released by the IRS can be checked very easily, for which some basic details are required, which are SSN, tax year, filing status, and refund amount. If you have all these details, then you can check your refund payment status with ease.

For your kind information, it is taking 3 weeks to receive a refund for tax year 2025 after e-filing; in the case of on-paper filing, this time is 6 weeks. After e-filing and on-paper filing, one has to wait for about 24 hours and four weeks to check the refund payment status. 

The message that you see on checking the status is received, approved, and sent. “Received” means that the IRS has received your application, but they have not reviewed it. “Approved” means that they have reviewed it and will release the refund soon. “Sent” means that your refund has been released. 

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How to check the IRS Refund Payment Status 2026?

To check the IRS refund payment status through the web portal or mobile application, please go through the respective step-by-step instructions available below. 

Web-portal:

• Go to the official website of the Internal Revenue Service.
• Scroll down to jump to the Tools & Application section.
• Click on the ‘Where’s My Refund’ option and go to the next page.
• Tap on the ‘Check your refund’ option and go to another page.
• Enter your social security number.
• Choose the tax year as 2025.
• Opt for filing status as Single, Married-Filing Joint Return, Married-Filing Separate Return, Head of Household, or Qualifying Widow(er)/Surviving Spouse.
• Enter the refund amount.
• Click the Submit button.
  

Mobile application:

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• Download the IRS2Go mobile application from the Play Store or App Store for your Android or iOS device.
• Run the mobile application and click on the Refund Status option to make visible the tax refund status checking screen.
• Enter all the asked details accurately, and click on the Submit button to check the refund payment status.

If the IRS has approved your tax return, you will also see the date on which they are going to release your refund payment. Note down that date because you will get the direct deposit on the same day. It is received immediately after the release.

What’s the 2026 IRS Refund payment timeline?

The IRS is taking approximately 9 to 11 days to approve e-filing for tax year 2025, with a maximum wait of 10 days to receive the refund. In the case of on-paper filing, the return is approved 5 weeks after filing, and then you have to wait a week to get it.

Based on the above 2025 IRS tax refund timeline, we have prepared an estimated refund schedule for both electronic filing and on-paper filing. Refer to tables below to find out when you are likely to get your tax refund in 2026.

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E-filing

On-Paper Filing 

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