How to check on a refund, an amended return, or a payment
Three different IRS trackers answer three different questions. Which tool to use, what each one needs from you, and when to stop refreshing and call.
Quick answers
- Why does the refund tracker say it has no information?
- Usually the return has not been accepted yet, or the refund amount entered does not match the return exactly. E-filed returns appear within twenty-four hours of e-filing; paper returns take about four weeks.
- Can I track an amended return in the same place as a refund?
- No. Amended returns have their own tracker and a much slower clock. Allow about three weeks before it shows anything and generally eight to twelve weeks for processing.
- Where do I check whether the IRS received my payment?
- In your IRS online account. It shows posted payments, pending and scheduled payments, several years of history, and any payment plan you have.
The IRS has one tracker for a refund, a different one for an amended return, and your online account for payments. Using the wrong one is the most common reason a status looks blank.
Three questions, three tools
A refund on an original return goes to the refund tracker, which also runs inside the IRS mobile app. An amended return has its own tracker and a much slower clock, so nothing you do on the refund tracker will show it. Anything about money you have sent, owe, or have arranged to pay lives in your online account rather than in either tracker.
Check a refund
- Go to irs.gov and open Where's my refund?
- Choose Check without signing in, or open the tracker from inside your account.
- Enter the Social Security number or ITIN, the filing status, the tax year and the exact refund amount from the return. The tracker asks for these as Exact refund amount, Social Security number or ITIN, Filing status (married, single, etc.) and Tax year.
- Select Use refund tracker.
- If nothing appears, check the timing before you worry. The IRS makes a status available twenty-four hours after an e-filed current-year return, three days after an e-filed prior-year return, and four weeks after a paper return.
What each status message actually means is a subject of its own, and Refund still processing covers the three phases and the topic numbers that appear beside them.
Check an amended return
- Go to irs.gov and open Where's My Amended Return.
- Have the Social Security number, date of birth and ZIP code ready. Those are the three items the page lists under What you need.
- Select Check your amended return status.
- Read the result against the IRS's own timetable. Allow about three weeks before an amended return appears at all, and generally eight to twelve weeks for it to be processed, which in some cases runs to sixteen.
- If the tool cannot show your return, check the exclusions before calling. Business returns, carryback claims, injured spouse claims, a Form 1040 marked as amended instead of a Form 1040-X, and returns handled by special units are all outside what it covers.
The tool covers the current tax year and up to three prior years. Form 1040-X explains what the amended return itself is doing.
Check a payment
- Sign in to your IRS online account.
- Open the payments area. The account shows payment history, pending and scheduled payments, and any payment plan you have.
- Compare it against your bank record. The history runs several years back and includes estimated tax payments.
- If a payment is missing, check the date it was scheduled before sending it again. Scheduled payments are shown separately from posted ones.
If it doesn't work
- The amount does not match. The refund tracker wants the exact refund figure from the return, not the amount you expected or the amount that reached your bank.
- The return has not been accepted yet. Until it is, there is nothing for the tracker to report, however many times you reload it.
- The amended return is one of the excluded types. The tool will never show it, so the answer has to come from a person.
- The tool is in its maintenance window. The amended-return tracker is down in the early hours of Monday and on occasional Sunday mornings, Eastern time.
- Your account will not verify. Creating an IRS online account walks through the identity check that is usually the blockage.
What you'll need
- The exact refund amount from the return, and the tax year.
- The Social Security number or ITIN on the return, and for the amended-return tool the date of birth and ZIP code as well.
- Your filing status as filed.
- An IRS online account for anything to do with payments, balances or a payment plan.
When to stop checking and call
For a refund, wait out the normal window first: most e-filed returns with direct deposit are paid within 21 days, and a status that has not moved inside that window is usually not a problem yet. If the account transcript is showing codes you do not recognize, Transcript codes 570, 971 and 846 reads them.
For an amended return, the IRS asks you to call about the status only if the tracker tells you to. Calling earlier gets you the same information the screen already gave. If what the checking turns up is a balance rather than a refund, When you cannot pay in full covers what to do next.