Where's My Refund: Check the Status of Your Federal and State Tax Refunds

Every year, one of the most frequent questions we receive is, "Where's my tax refund?" If you are like most taxpayers, these extra funds are often allocated before receiving them. Knowing exactly when your tax refund will hit your account will help you plan ahead.

Refund Status

The following information is provided to assist individuals with tracking the status of their anticipated tax refund. All taxpayers want a fast response when they are expecting a state or federal refund. While the IRS and state treasuries are typically very efficient with distributing these, it is possible for an issue to occur. For this reason, it is important that taxpayers understand how to monitor the status of their refunds after submitting their state and federal tax returns.

 

Using the IRS Where's My Refund tool:

The IRS has instituted a simple method for checking the status of an individual's tax refund. "Where's My Refund" is what the IRS calls its tool which allows filers to check the status of their Federal Refund. In order to check this, you must have first filed your return and it must have been received by the IRS. Status updates are typically only made every 24hrs, so you may also need to wait at least one day after receipt of the return prior to using the IRS Where's My Refund tool.

You can check the status of your refund by clicking the "Check My Refund Status" button below. Please note, in order to retrieve the information on your refund you will need to enter your SSN, filing status and the amount of your expected tax refund.


 

Twenty-one days or less is the "stated" turn-around time in which a filer should receive their refund. However, in practice many refunds are processed much more quickly than this; some in as little as 8 days. For this reason, you may want to consider waiting until the 8th day before checking your tax refund's status. Keep in mind that federal return timeframes are based on the receipt date and those who file by mail should add time to this estimate.

If you would like to check your status these are the items you will first need:

  1. Your social security number or tax ID number.
  2. The type of filing/marital status that was selected in the return (single, married filing jointly, head of household, etc)
  3. The exact refund amount you are anticipating, according to the tax return filling.

The IRS' Where's My Refund tool can be accessed in three different ways. Online, over the phone or using the IRS app (available for most Android devices and Apple iPhone/iPad).

Online, you can access information about your refund status by visiting to the webpage here - https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp and entering the personal information specified above.

The IRS Refund Hotline is also available for those who prefer to receive information over the phone. The tax refund phone number for this is 1-800-829-1954. Please note, for assistance in locating possible lost refunds please see our page on contacting the IRS. Finally, the IRS now offers a mobile app version of the Where's My Refund tool, which fillers can install and access on their Apple (here) or Android (here) devices.

With each of these access methods refund status updates occur once every twenty-four hours, usually at night. Calling, checking online or with the app once daily is enough. Checking more frequently will not prompt a quicker status update.

 

Where's my State Refund?

Tracking Down State Tax Refunds:

There are 43 states that currently collect income taxes. Residents of many of these states who expect a tax refund now too have a means to find information on the status of their state refund just as with their federal. Similar to the IRS, several states also offer a "Where's My State Refund" tool. It is important to note, that the various avenues available to individuals for finding information on their state refund status do differ by state.

Tax refunds in individual states may also take longer to arrive in comparison with federal tax returns filed by mail or electronically. Most state governments issue refunds 21 days after receiving a tax return, some states may take even longer than this. Furthermore, some also take longer to issue refunds to first-time taxpayers. This is an important consideration for taxpayers who just moved to the state or taxpayers who recently started earning income and are filing for the first time.

Like the IRS, most state government websites require the exact expected refund and the individual's Social Security number and/or tax ID to access information. Occasionally, a state may also require information from the prior tax year and either a zip code or full mailing address of the tax payer.

Below you will find information for all 43 states on how to lookup the status of a refund. There are also phone numbers and addresses listed for the various state departments in the case that you need to contact one of them regarding a missing refund, question or possible error:

State of Alabama DOR (Department of Revenue)
Gordon Persons Building
50 North Ripley Street Montgomery, AL 36104
(334) 242-1099
https://myalabamataxes.alabama.gov/_/

Arizona DOR Income Tax Refunds
1600 West Monroe
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2650
(602) 255-3381 https://www.aztaxes.gov/CheckRefund

Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration
Ledbetter Building
1816 West 7th Street, Room 2300
Little Rock, AR 72201
(501) 682-1100
https://atap.arkansas.gov/_/

State of California Franchise Tax Board
9646 Butterfield Way
Sacramento, CA 95827
(800) 338-0505
https://webapp.ftb.ca.gov/refund/Login.aspx

Colorado DOR
1375 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80261
(303) 238-7378
https://www.colorado.gov/revenueonline/_/#1

State of Connecticut DOR Services
25 Sigourney Street
Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 297-5962
https://drsindtax.ct.gov/AUT/refundStatus.aspx?TXPYRTYP=I

Delaware Division of Revenue
Carvel State Office Building
820 North French Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 577-8200
https://dorweb.revenue.delaware.gov/refinq/

District Of Columbia OTR Customer Service Center
1101 4th Street Southwest, Suite W270
Washington, D.C. 20024
(202) 727-4829
https://www.taxpayerservicecenter.com/individual/Ind_RefundStatus_Logon.jsp

Georgia DOR
1800 Century Boulevard Northeast, #12000
Atlanta, GA 30345
(404) 417-6605
https://gtc.dor.ga.gov/_/

Hawaii Department of Taxation
830 Punchbowl Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 587-4242
https://tax.ehawaii.gov/hoihoi/refund.html

Idaho State Tax Commission
800 East Park Boulevard, #500
Boise, ID 83712
(208) 334-7660
https://idahotap.gentax.com/tap/_/

Illinois DOR
15 Executive Drive
Fairview Heights, IL 62208
(618) 624-6773
https://www.revenue.state.il.us/app/refund/index.html

Indiana DOR
P.O. Box 40
Indianapolis, IN 46206-0040
(317) 232-2240
https://secure.in.gov/apps/dor/tax/refund/

Iowa DOR
1305 East Walnut Street, #3000
Des Moines, IA 50319
(515) 281-3114
https://www.idr.iowa.gov/wheresmyrefund/

Kansas DOR
915 Southwest Harrison Street, #300
Topeka, KS 66612
(785) 368-8222
https://www.kdor.org/refundstatus/default.asp

Kentucky DOR
501 High Street
Frankfort, KY 40601-2103
(502) 564-4581
https://iitrefundstatus.ky.gov/TRFWeb/index.jsp

Louisiana DOR
617 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
(225) 219-0102
https://esweb.revenue.louisiana.gov/wheresmyrefund/

Maine Revenue Services
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04330
(207) 626-8475
Refunds Status: https://portal.maine.gov/refundstatus/

Comptroller of Maryland
State Office Bldg.

301 W Preston Street
Room 206
Baltimore, MD 21201-2384
410-767-1306
https://interactive.marylandtaxes.gov/INDIV/refundstatus/home.aspx

Massachusetts DOR
436 Dwight Street, # 312
Springfield, MA 01103
(617) 887-6367
https://wfb.dor.state.ma.us/webfile/wsi/Public/Webforms/Features/ViewActivity.aspx

Michigan Department of Treasury
Lansing, MI 48922
(517) 373-3200
http://www.michigan.gov/treasury/0,4679,7-121--302425--,00.html

Minnesota DOR
600 North Robert Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
(651) 556-3000
https://www.mndor.state.mn.us/tp/refund/_/#1

Mississippi DOR
P.O. Box 23050
Jackson, MS 39225
(601) 923-7801
https://tap.dor.ms.gov/_/#2

Missouri DOR
Harry S. Truman State Office Building
301 West High Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
(573) 751-3505
https://dors.mo.gov/tax/taxinq/welcome.jsp

Montana DOR
Sam W. Mitchell Building
125 North Roberts, 3rd Floor
Helena, MT 59604-5805
(406) 444-6900
https://tap.dor.mt.gov/_/#1

Nebraska DOR
P.O. Box 98912
Lincoln, NE 68509‑8912
(402) 471‑5729
https://ndr-refundstatus.ne.gov/refundstatus/public/search.faces

State of New Jersey Department of Treasury
Division of Taxation
P.O. Box 046
Trenton, NJ 08646-0046
(609) 826-4400
https://www16.state.nj.us/TYTR_TGI_INQ/jsp/prompt.jsp

New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department
1100 South St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87504
(505) 827-0700
https://tap.state.nm.us/tap/_/#1

New York Department of Taxation and Finance
State Processing Center
P.O. BOX 61000
Albany, NY 12261-0001
(518) 457-5149
http://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/refund.htm

North Carolina DOR
P.O. Box 25000
Raleigh, NC 27640-0640
(919) 707-7500
https://eservices.dor.nc.gov/wheresmyrefund/SelectionServlet

State of North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0599
(701) 328-7088
https://apps.nd.gov/tax/tap/_/#1

Ohio Department of Taxation
4485 Northland Ridge Boulevard
Columbus, OH 43229
(800) 282-1780
https://www.tax.state.oh.us/IFILE/WheresMyRefundWeb/wheresmyrefund.jsp

Oklahoma Tax Commission
2501 North Lincoln Boulevard
Oklahoma City, OK 73194
(405) 521-3160
https://oktap.tax.ok.gov/oktap/web/_/

Oregon DOR
955 Center Street Northeast
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 378-4988
https://secure.dor.state.or.us/refund/refund.cfm

Pennsylvania DOR
333 Walnut Street
Harrisburg, PA 17128
(717) 787-8201
https://www.doreservices.state.pa.us/pitservices/wheresmyrefund.aspx

Rhode Island DOR
Taxation Division
1 Capitol Hill
Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-1040
https://www.ri.gov/taxation/refund/

South Carolina DOR
1330 Howard Parkway
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 839-2960
https://www3.sctax.org/refundstatus/refund.aspx

Utah State Tax Commission
210 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84134
(801) 297-3996
https://tap.tax.utah.gov/TaxExpress/_/#1

Vermont Department of Taxes
133 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
(802) 828-2515
https://secure.vermont.gov/TAX/refund/

Virginia Department of Taxation
1957 Westmoreland Street
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 367-2486
https://www.individual.tax.virginia.gov/VTOL/IndRefundStatus.seam

West Virginia State Tax Department
Taxpayer Services Division
1206 Quarrier Street
Charleston, WV 25301
(304) 558-3333
https://mytaxes.wvtax.gov/_/#1

Wisconsin DOR
2135 Rimrock Road
Madison, WI 53713
(608) 266-2772
https://ww2.revenue.wi.gov/RefundInquiry/request.html

Q&A: What is the fastest way to get a tax refund?

E-filing and choosing to receive your refund through direct deposit helps to expedite the tax refund process and get you your fastest refund without the use of expensive refund anticipation loans. At E-file, you'll get a confirmation of acceptance from the IRS within 48hrs. Once accepted, you can get your money in as little as 21 calendar days. In contrast, when you print and mail a return it can take as long as two months to receive your refund.

Another way to help speed up your tax refund is to select a direct deposit instead of requesting a paper check. To utilize this, you simply need your bank name, account and routing number.

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