If there’s one thing that can be said about tax season that is an absolute truth for just about everyone is that this season brings with it a great deal of stress. That is because we are all required to pay taxes, by law, and there is simply no way around it. With the April deadline and only getting our documents to file our taxes in January, it can feel like a lot of pressure to meet the time line that has been established for us. However, once you’ve got your return filed, the stress does not always end there. In fact, knowing how to check status of federal tax return is going to go a long way towards helping you keep your peace of mind when you want to know that the federal Internal Revenue Service has accepted your return and everything is going to be okay this year. This is an especially crucial step for those of us who look forward to our refund checks or direct deposits each year so that we can keep our budgets on track.
All you need to do in order to check your return’s status is to go to the official IRS website and click on the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool. If you have used an e-file service to submit your return then it really is possible to check status of federal tax return and get up to date information regarding your refund a mere 72 hours after you have submitted the return. For those who have submitted their returns with the traditional paper filing method, this same information will be available through the website tool within three to four weeks. Keep in mind that when you go to run the tool and get your return processing status, you are going to need to have some personal information on hand at that time. Your Social Security number is one piece, but you will also need to know which status you filed under and the exact amount of the refund that you entered into your return at the time you submitted it. Once this information has been entered then you will be shown that either your return has been received and is being processed or you may be given an exact date that your refund will be deposited or if it’s a check, when the check is due to be mailed. In some instances the tool may tell you that due to an incorrect mailing address your check is not deliverable. If you encounter this message then you will want to contact the IRS and fix this situation as quickly as possible.
