The IRS has started the release of refunds for the tax year 2025 from 31 January 2026; many people have received their refunds, and many are still waiting to receive them. In 2026, to get the refund, one has to wait for 4 weeks after e-filing and 8 weeks after on-paper filing.
If you have filed your return and are waiting for the refund, then you should know that after e-filing it takes 18 days to get approved and 5 days to receive, whereas after paper filing it takes approximately 7 weeks to get approved and 5 days to get it.
IRS Tax Refund Alert 2026
If you filed your return electronically and haven’t received it even after more than four weeks have passed, the first thing you should do is check the status of your 2026 taxes filing. You can do this using the Where’s My Refund? web-based tool and the IRS2Go mobile application.
If you check the refund status, you will get to know whether the Internal Revenue Service has received or approved your return or whether your refund has been sent. To check the refund status, very basic details are required, which include social security number, tax year, etc.
What’s the IRS Tax Refund Schedule 2026?
For the tax year 2025, the IRS started the return filing process from January 9, 2026, and its processing from January 26, 2026. After that, the initial refund was released on January 31, 2026, for e-filers. Below, we have shared an estimated tax refund schedule, which will help you to figure out when you will get your tax refund.
E-Filers
| Filed Between | Approved Between | Received Between |
| January 9 – 15 | January 26 – February 2 | January 31 – February 6 |
| January 16 – 20 | February 3 – February 7 | February 8 – February 12 |
| January 21 – 25 | February 8 – February 12 | February 13 – February 17 |
| January 26 – 31 | February 13 – February 18 | February 18 – February 23 |
| February 1 – 5 | February 19 – February 23 | February 24 – February 28 |
| February 6 – 10 | February 24 – February 28 | March 1 – March 5 |
| February 11 – 15 | March 1 – March 5 | March 6 – March 10 |
| February 16 – 20 | March 6 – March 10 | March 11 – March 15 |
| February 21 – 25 | March 11 – March 15 | March 16 – March 20 |
| February 26 – 28 | March 16 – March 20 | March 21 – March 25 |
On-Paper Filers
| Filed Between | Approved Between | Received Between |
| January 9 – 15 | February 27 – March 5 | March 4 – March 10 |
| January 16 – 20 | March 6 – March 12 | March 11 – March 17 |
| January 21 – 25 | March 13 – March 19 | March 18 – March 24 |
| January 26 – 31 | March 20 – March 27 | March 25 – April 1 |
| February 1 – 5 | March 28 – April 3 | April 2 – April 8 |
| February 6 – 10 | April 4 – April 10 | April 9 – April 15 |
| February 11 – 15 | April 11 – April 17 | April 16 – April 22 |
| February 16 – 20 | April 18 – April 24 | April 23 – April 29 |
| February 21 – 25 | April 25 – May 1 | April 30 – May 6 |
| February 26 – 28 | May 2 – May 8 | May 7 – May 13 |
How to check the IRS tax refund status in 2026?
In order to get the 2026 IRS tax refund status, go through the step-by-step instructions available below.
- Go to the official website of the Internal Revenue Service.
- Find and click on the ‘Use refund tracker’ button.
- Fill in your social security number.
- Choose your tax year as 2025.
- Select filling status among Single, Married-Filing Joint Return, Married-Filing Separate Return, Head of Household, and Qualifying Widow(er) / Surviving Spouse.
- Enter the refund amount and click on the Submit button.
If your tax refund status is showing as Received, it means that the IRS has collected your tax return; if Approved, it means the IRS has accepted your tax return; and if Sent, it means the IRS has released your tax refund.