For all the people
impatiently waiting
on tax refunds.

A grapevine for taxpayers,
by taxpayers.

Interact with people who have experiences or questions just like you.

All of your tax refund questions, answered.
What Other People Are Saying
49,270 comments

Where’s My Refund?

You have questions, we have answers.

key tax return and refund dates

When can you file your taxes?

You can submit your tax return before the IRS begins processing as early as the first week of the year with many tax preparation providers. You don’t need to wait until the IRS begins accepting tax returns but you must have the proper forms and paperwork. Some forms are not available until mid January. Tax returns filed before the IRS officially opens sit in a ā€œqueueā€ and are held until the IRS officially begins accepting tax returns.

Your tax return may be selected in a test batch. If you e-file early and it sits in queue, your return may be sent to the IRS early. This can result in early direct deposits depending on the payment provider you select. Our cycle chart will update with key dates including test batch dates.

When does the IRS accept tax returns?

The IRS usually opens around the third week of January each year. They announce the opening date early in January.

The IRS will begin accepting tax returns in 2025 on January 27th.

When is the IRS test batch?

If you file your tax return early, it may be sent to the IRS in a test batch before the IRS has officially opened for the year. It is usually a week before the date the IRS begins accepting tax returns. This has resulted in refunds in the past that can be posted by direct deposit as early as the day after tax season opens.

When will I get my tax refund?

Early filers whose returns are accepted in a test batch can anticipate a tax refund as early as the day after the IRS opens the January filing season if your return was in the test batch. The day that the IRS deposits refunds varies for regular returns but we notice trends based on the method you chose to file and select to direct deposit. You can use our tax refund calendar or refund cycle chart to help find out when you will get your tax refund.

Where is the IRS refund cycle chart?

The official tax refund cycle chart published by the IRS has been eliminated and replaced with IRS FAQ. Refund cycle charts are now published by independent websites and vary slightly.

A good reference to use is the When To Expect My Refund cycle chart that is published early each year by the College Investor.

tax refund grapevine

This is a user-to-user community of taxpayers. Share experiences and ask questions below in our Live Discussion. We have learned more about tax refunds than we ever wanted to know.

IRS Update Cycle

Use the IRS Update Cycle chart to find the days and times the WMR and transcript update.

Transcripts

This is what your IRS transcript can tell you about your tax refund.

Transaction Codes

Lookup the codes that you see on your tax return transcript and what they mean.

Daily vs. Weekly

Find out if you have a daily or weekly account with the IRS and what it means.

When are Updates?

The IRS has regular mass update cycles.

WHEN DOES WHERES MY REFUND (WMR) UPDATE?

Where’s My Refund can update any day of the week. But there are mass updates on Wednesday and Saturday when a lot of people see an update. Use our calendar to find out what day you can expect to see updates on Where’s My Refund.

WHEN DO transcripts update?

Transcripts can update any day of the week. But there are mass updates on Tuesday and Friday. Use our calendar to find out what day you can expect to see an update on your transcript.

talk to a human

It is often hard to reach someone at the IRS and you might want to talk to a person. It is hard to reach some tax preparation companies too. Use our guide to talk to a human at the IRS.

TAX TOPIC 152

Tax Topic 152 is the most common status when you check the status of your tax refund. It is nothing to worry about.

transcript codes

Transaction Codes (TC) sometimes called transcript codes consist of three digits and may appear on your IRS account transcript. Decipher the codes on your IRS transcripts.

reference codes

Most times the Wherer’s My Refund tool (WMR) will show Tax Topic 152. Other times you may see various error codes. These are called Reference Codes on the WMR.

Join the Conversation

What Others Are Saying

  1. Waiting........

    Any word on Disaster Distribution form being fixed?

    Reply
  2. DebMom
    • Tax Preparer:
      Other
    • Date Filed:
      Feb-3
    • Fees:
      Free
    • Bank:
      Varo
    • Bars:
      1st Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Feb-3
    • Date Approved:
      Feb-14
    • WMR Date:
      Feb-20
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle Code:
      20250705
    • Cycle:
      Weekly
    • As of:
      Feb-24
    • Processing Date:
      Feb-14
    • I Got My Refund!

    Anyone know if I can claim my grown son who’s been unemployed al year but living a home if he has government insurance and is required to file to reconcile premium payments? I paid for all expenses other than his medical insurance

    Reply
  3. Please help

    @Juicyroot: republic bank

    Reply
  4. TTOhio

    @Please help you should be able to file federal with tt and just do your state on their website. I had to do that years ago.

    Reply
    1
  5. Melly

    SBTPG set up my account already. Now to wait begins for the IRS to xfer the money!

    Reply
    3
  6. Vicandy321

    @LWBOSS: some people are waiting to be accepted for the tt advance …it dirdf come until ur accepted

    Reply
    1
  7. Juicyroot

    @Please help: who does Jackson Hewitt bank with now

    Reply
  8. frankiebleyes

    @KYMama:

    Reply
  9. LWBOSS

    @Vicandy321: hey I just wanna add it doesn’t matter if you make the test batch or not because if u have credits, u still will have to wait until after the 15 of next month to get your refund. If u paid ur tax preparer fees up front, then u don’t have nothing to worry about. U will still get it faster around the same time after the 15th. U just will have to be accepted some time next week to make the cutt.

    Reply
    4
  10. loucy29

    @Vicandy321: yea i just read that on a facebook page as well sucks lol

    Reply
  11. Vicandy321

    @loucy29: from what I read we won’t get accepted till Monday test batches were during week ā˜¹ļø

    Reply
    2
  12. Please help

    Does anyone know of a good tax preparer in North Carolina who offers the advance TT is not available for NC residents, and I heard JH is not reliable since they left meta bank

    Reply
    1
  13. loucy29

    @BigHen73: morning

    Reply
  14. BigHen73
    • Tax Preparer:
      FreeTaxUSA
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-5
    • Fees:
      Free
    • Bank:
      Lincoln Savings (Cash App)
    • Bars:
      3rd Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-16
    • Date Approved:
      Feb-3
    • WMR Date:
      Feb-7
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle Code:
      05
    • Cycle:
      Weekly
    • As of:
      Feb-19
    • I Got My Refund!

    Good morning from Michigan!!!

    Reply
  15. loucy29

    good morning everyone anyone get accepted today 1/21?

    Reply
    1
  16. Brittany Amador
    • Tax Preparer:
      H&R Block
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-29
    • Fees:
      In Advance
    • Bank:
      USAA
    • Bars:
      1st Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-29
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle Code:
      05
    • Cycle:
      Weekly
    • I Got My Refund!

    @Jan: have you checked your check stubs to make sure that you were paying into federal?

    Reply
  17. Jan

    Why isn’t federal coming out of my w-2s?

    Reply
  18. Need2kno

    Hi yah! New to the group, first year, hi all. Quick question, for anyone who had to do form 8862 with their taxes before, did your taxes still go at a regular timeline- or where they off?

    Reply
  19. Tarabel

    Filed with TT at 1:30 yesterday and just got accepted at 8:57pm est

    Reply
    6
  20. Michele

    @KYMama: there is an in depth answer to daily vs. weekly here.

    Reply
  21. KYMama

    Quick question. How do find out if we’re daily’s or? My moms has went blank lol

    Reply
    1
  22. Yandyy

    I’m hoping dailies updates soon with no Credits….02 daily

    Reply
  23. loucy29

    @KDawg its actually people been accepted as of now read a few posts on reddit.com

    Reply
  24. BeeBee40
    • Tax Preparer:
      TaxAct
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-28
    • Fees:
      In Advance
    • Bank:
      Chime
    • Bars:
      1st Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-28
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle Code:
      20250605
    • Cycle:
      Weekly
    • As of:
      Mar-3
    • Processing Date:
      Feb-24
    • I Got My Refund!

    hi i have a question. How do my brother obtain an Ip pin? he never received one and he has no luck on id me it want let him verify. any suggestions will be appreciated.

    Reply
  25. KYMama

    Filed through TT. Received but not accepted , yet. Maybe it’ll update this weekend. Hoping for a smooth tax year for everyone and glad to see y’all again :)

    Reply
    2
  26. Vicandy321

    @KDawg: well I did mine last night and got rejected today 3pm pst maybe we can make the cut lol

    Reply
  27. KDawg

    @loucy29: boooooo that stinks. Because I immediately knew this would happen since TT didn’t prompt me to enter my pin. I wonder if acceptances can happen over the weekend?

    Reply
  28. loucy29

    @KDawg: did my sisters yesterday was rejected for same reason around 6:00est..still waiting for acceptance now

    Reply
  29. KDawg

    @Vicandy321: same! It didn’t even prompt me to enter it. I wonder how long it’ll take to accept it now.

    Reply
  30. Luckymama4

    Filed 1/11 with TT APPLIED FOR REFUND ADVANCE THROUGH CREDIT KARMA AND WAS JUST ACCEPTED MONEY WAS WAITING IN MY KARMA ACCOUNT! 4K!!!!! Ty Jesus!

    Reply
    9
  31. Sheila_33
    • Tax Preparer:
      FreeTaxUSA
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-9
    • Fees:
      Free
    • Bank:
      Bluebird
    • Bars:
      No Bars-PATH Act Message
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-17
    • Date Approved:
      Feb-16
    • WMR Date:
      Feb-16
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle Code:
      04
    • Cycle:
      Daily
    • As of:
      Feb-10
    • Processing Date:
      Feb-19
    • I Got My Refund!

    @Mike: Nice to see you back. Let’s hope for a nice smooth year, fingers crossed.

    Reply
    2
  32. Tab
    • Tax Preparer:
      FreeTaxUSA
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-13
    • Fees:
      Free
    • Bank:
      Wells Fargo
    • Bars:
      1st Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-22
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle:
      Daily
    • I Got My Refund!

    @Mike: Yep the waiting is hard. Filed 1/16 and still awaiting acceptance. After that begins the next wait. šŸ˜‚

    Reply
  33. Mike
    • Tax Preparer:
      FreeTaxUSA
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-19
    • Fees:
      In Advance
    • Bank:
      BOA
    • Bars:
      3rd Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-21
    • Date Approved:
      Jan-24
    • WMR Date:
      Jan-29
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle Code:
      20250405
    • Cycle:
      Daily
    • As of:
      Feb-10
    • Processing Date:
      Jan-23
    • I Got My Refund!

    Well I can officially join the waiting group, just filed now with FreeTax. Took me longer than usual with the businesses etc. Glad to see the site start getting busy!

    Reply
    1
  34. •°Karma°•

    What a surprise! WMR showed accepted around 2pm. Advance deposited an hour ago. TT updated with accepted half hour ago. That was suprisingly easy this year!

    Reply
    5
  35. KinFl
    • Tax Preparer:
      Turbo Tax
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-17
    • Fees:
      In Advance
    • Bars:
      1st Bar
    • Date Accepted:
      Jan-17
    • Transcript:
      Online
    • Cycle:
      Weekly
    • I Got My Refund!

    Still pending on TT but just got my refund advance!! New washing machine, here I come!!

    Reply
    4
  36. Brandan G

    Update: I just got my advance. šŸ™ŒšŸ¼

    Reply
    3
  37. Vicandy321

    Just got rejected for missing pin lol dang it

    Reply
    1
  38. Michael

    @Goodvibes: To be honest I didn’t even bother checking WMR. I just got a notification I got accepted a hour ago and my advance just hit now. Only weird thing is they only approved me for 1/2 of what I was originally approved for. Weird!!

    Reply
    1
  39. Goodvibes
    • Tax Preparer:
      Turbo Tax
    • Date Filed:
      Jan-20
    • Fees:
      From Refund

    @Michael: hey I’ve been showing accepted on WMR since 2:30 & still shows pending on TT I was urs doing tht? & have u gotten ur advance yet?

    Reply