Haven’t Received Your 2021 Refund? Here is What You Can Do

The IRS started sending out 2021 tax refunds slowly but surely. If you haven’t received your tax refund, even if the IRS has processed your return and approved a refund, it’s still too early at the time of writing this article. 

Since the tax season started about fifteen days ago and the IRS has a usual wait time of around three weeks, you still got some waiting to do. The bottom line is it’s too early to stress about your refund, and if you’re not a part of the 1 percent that experiences a late refund, you’ll get it soon enough. What if you are, though? In that case, we have some explaining to do. 

Measures you can take to get your refund sooner

Although much of what we’re about to discuss in this part are things that you need to take before submitting your tax return, here it goes.

Always file your tax return electronically and choose to get your tax refund direct deposited into your bank account. Paper tax returns take time to reach the IRS, and they are processed much slower than electronic returns. 

The same also applies to physical checks. Direct deposit orders are placed almost instantly after the IRS processes your tax return and approves the refund. On the other hand, physical checks have to be printed out and sent to your address by mail. Overall, these add up to how long you’re going to wait for your refund.

Check your refund status

Before the dark clouds get you, make sure to check the status of your tax refund. Even if it has been a while since you filed your return, the chances are the IRS hasn’t even begun processing it. Since your refund needs to be approved after the IRS processes it, this is the first step.

To get all the information about your refund as well as your tax return, such as if the has received it or not, meaning that the IRS started processing it, use the Where’s My Refund online tool. This web-based application will give you the necessary updates on your tax refund. Although the updates don’t happen immediately, they are fairly quick. The information provided on the tool is updated every day, at midnight. 

Check refund status on the IRS Where’s My Refund tool. 

Call the IRS to ask about your refund

There might be some problems if it has been a while, like more than a month since the IRS received your return. In that case, give the IRS a call to ask whereabouts of your tax refund. Call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. The IRS representatives are available Monday through Friday between 7 AM and 7 PM your local time. 

Although the information you’re going to get out of them might be limited, you’ll get some insights into your tax return – better than not knowing anything at all!