7 Reasons You Haven’t Received Your Tax Refund

Once you’ve filed your taxes for the year, you probably wonder how soon your refund will arrive—especially if you have big plans for it. In general, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says that nine out of ten taxpayers who file electronically can expect their refunds within 21 days.

But what if that much time has elapsed and your refund is still missing in action? Here is what you need to know and do.

First, Check Your Refund Status Online

If you are wondering where your refund is, you can start by checking its status on the IRS’s Where’s My Refund? page. To do that, the IRS says you will need:

• Your Social Security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)
• Your filing status
• Your exact refund amount

Click on the "Check My Refund Status" button, supply the required information, and you’ll get results. Unfortunately, this tool does not provide much detail about why your money may be delayed. It may advise you to call the IRS, from which you should be able to learn more details. However, the IRS says you should not call unless one of the following two things is true:

• It has been 21 or more days since you e-filed.
• The Where’s My Refund? online tool tells you to contact the IRS.

7 Reasons for a Late Tax Refund

Many things can hold up the processing and delivery of your tax refund. For example, it could be delayed if you filed your return too early or waited until the last minute. If you tried to file in January, for example, a last-minute change to the tax code could have triggered an error on your return that slowed down the processing. Similarly, waiting until the last minute to get your return in can mean a longer wait for your refund if the IRS is backlogged with a larger-than-usual volume of returns.

Also, keep in mind that filing a paper return can slow things down. The fastest way to file—and to get your refund—is to do it electronically online. Here are some of the most common causes of delay:

1. Your Tax Return Contains Inaccurate Information

Numerical errors or other mistakes on your tax return can slow the pace of your refund. When an error is detected, your return is earmarked for human review, meaning that an IRS employee must comb through it to find the mistake. That can add days or weeks to the processing time.

2. Your Return Is Incomplete

Having an incomplete return can also trigger an IRS review, which could mean a longer wait for your refund. For example, if you filed a paper return and forgot to enter a key piece of information, such as your SSN, or you failed to sign your tax forms, then the IRS won’t process your return until those items are checked off.

3. You’re a Victim of Tax Fraud

One type of tax fraud involves someone using your personal information to file a fraudulent tax return and claim a refund in your name. For the 2023 tax filing season, the IRS identified more than 337,662 fraudulent refund claims, with 87,591 of them tied to identity theft. If you think you’re a victim of tax-related identity theft, you can contact the IRS and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report it.

4. Your Refund Was Sent to the Wrong Bank

Filing your return electronically is the fastest way to get your refund, especially if you’re using direct deposit. That assumes, however, that you entered the correct numbers for your bank account. If you transposed a digit in the routing or account number, your money could be sent to someone else’s account.

5. You Claimed Certain Tax Credits

Tax credits reduce your tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Certain tax credits—including the earned income credit (EIC) and the additional child tax credit—often draw scrutiny from the IRS due to taxpayers claiming these credits fraudulently. If you claimed either credit, then that could be the reason why your refund hasn’t yet arrived.

6. You Amended Your Return

Amending a tax return can also create a delay. In 2020, the IRS changed the rules to allow for electronic filing of amended returns for certain forms. You can electronically file an amendment for Form 1040 or 1040-SR for tax years 2020 or later, or Form 1040-NR for tax year 2021 or later, as long as the original was also filed electronically. If you originally filed your return on paper, then the amended return must also be on paper. Due to processing delays, it may take more than 20 weeks to process your return, meaning that you may be waiting several months for your refund.

7. Your Refund Has Been Offset to Pay a Debt

If you owe certain debts—including unpaid child support, unpaid state taxes, or delinquent federal student loans—the IRS can offset your refund by the balance owed. If your refund is offset, you’ll receive a notice from the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service advising you as to why your refund was taken and the agency to which the debt has been owed. You have the right to dispute the debt with the agency that received your refund.

The Bottom Line

Above are some of the most common reasons for a delayed refund. A refund could also be late if it’s lost in the mail. Having your refund stolen from your mailbox is another possibility. And a government shutdown, such as the one that took place in January 2019, could also result in a longer wait for your return to be processed and your refund sent. If the Where’s My Refund? tool isn’t offering any answers, you can turn to your local IRS office for help. The IRS may be able to trace your refund to find out what has happened to it and issue a replacement if needed.