The PATH Act prohibits the IRS from processing tax returns that claim the additional child tax credit or the earned income tax credit before February 15th. Those who claimed one or both of these tax credits for the 2025 tax year are still waiting for their refund.
If you claimed the additional child type credit and/or the earned income tax credit and are waiting for your refund, you’ll know it’s coming very soon. By reading this article thoroughly, you’ll learn when you’ll receive your refund, how you can check its status, and much more.
Also Read: EMSA Data Breach Settlement: Claim Deadline, Payout Amount & Other Details!
PATH Act Refund Alert 2026
The IRS has officially released a refund-related alert. For those whose refund is stuck due to the PATH Act, their returns will likely be approved on 21 February 2026 if they have filed electronically in the initial stage, and after getting approved on this date, they will definitely get their refund on 2 March 2026.
The IRS started the return filing process for the tax year 2025 on 9 January 2026. The federal tax refund of those who have claimed EITC and/or ACTC will start getting approved from 21 February 2026. The returns of those who filed their returns on or before 3 February 2026 will be approved first.
When to expect the 2026 IRS PATH Act tax refund?
The refund for the earned income tax credit and additional child tax credit takes four weeks to be received after e-filing. It takes 18 days after electronic filing for IRS approval and is received within 10 days of receipt. See the table below for the estimated refund schedule.
Also Read: Granite Wellness Centers Data Breach Settlement: File Claim To Get Upto $5,000!
| Filing Date Range | Expected Approval Window | Estimated Refund Window |
| January 9 to February 3 | February 21 | March 2 |
| February 4 to February 11 | February 22 to March 1 | March 2 to March 9 |
| February 12 to February 15 | March 2 to March 4 | March 10 to March 14 |
| February 16 to February 18 | March 5 to March 7 | March 15 to March 18 |
| February 19 to February 21 | March 8 to March 10 | March 19 to March 22 |
| February 22 to February 24 | March 11 to March 13 | March 23 to March 26 |
| February 25 to February 27 | March 14 to March 16 | March 27 to March 30 |
| February 28 to March 2 | March 17 to March 19 | March 31 to April 3 |
| March 3 to March 5 | March 20 to March 22 | April 4 to April 7 |
| March 6 to March 8 | March 23 to March 25 | April 8 to April 11 |
| March 9 to March 11 | March 26 to March 28 | April 12 to April 15 |
| March 12 to March 14 | March 29 to March 31 | April 16 to April 19 |
| March 15 to March 17 | April 1 to April 3 | April 20 to April 23 |
| March 18 to March 20 | April 4 to April 6 | April 24 to April 27 |
| March 21 to March 23 | April 7 to April 9 | April 28 to May 1 |
How to check the PATH Act Refund Status 2026?
In order to check the EITC and/or ACTC refund status, please go through the step-by-step instructions.
- Navigate to the Internal Revenue Service’s official website by visiting https://irs.gov/.
- Find and click on the ‘Track Refund Status’ button and get redirected to another page.
- Enter your Social Security Number, and choose your tax year as 2025.
- Select your filing status among Single, Married-Filing Joint Return, Married-Filing Separate Return, Head of Household, and Qualifying Widow(er)/Surviving Spouse.
- Fill in the refund amount and click on the Submit button.
If the Internal Revenue Service has approved your tax return, you will see a date on which they are going to release your EITC and/or ACTC refund.
If the tax refund status shows “Received,” it means that they have not yet reviewed your return. If it shows “Sent,” it means that your refund has been released, which you will receive shortly. Deposit takes approximately 4 hours after release.
Also Read: LifeLock & Norton Agree to $9.95M TCPA Class Action Settlement: Check If You Can Get Paid
If your tax refund shows something other than “Received,” “Approved,” or “Sent,” it means that there is a mistake in your tax return. In this situation, you will first need to find out what mistake you have made. Once you rectify it, your tax refund will be processed.