The Internal Revenue Service will soon start processing the refund for the tax year 2025. Taxpayers in America are eagerly looking for the details about the 2026 tax season. There is an expectation that it will start most probably in the third week of January 2026.
Since 2026, the IRS has made many changes. The major one is that they aren’t going to issue any paper check tax refund. There is no change in filing type; you may file electronically or on paper, but to get a refund, you have to provide banking details.
The refund timeline for the tax year 2025 is the same as the previous year. After e-filing, you have to wait for at least three weeks to get a refund. If you file it on paper, you have to wait at least six weeks. To know everything about it, read this article thoroughly.
What’s the 2026 IRS refund timeline?
If you e-file the taxes for tax year 2025, the agency will receive them within 24 hours. And then they take a time of approximately 10 to 14 days to accept it. Once the refund is accepted, they hardly take 5 days to release the refund.
In the case of on-paper filing, the agency receives it within a week, but they load it into their system with a time of 3 weeks. A week after showing the status of ‘Received,’ they accept it. And the refund is released in due time.
After the release of the direct deposit refund, it is received within a few hours, if there is no technical error or any mistake in the provided banking details. If there will be any, you have to wait up to 72 hours to receive it.
What about the 2026 EITC/ACTC refund?
The earned income tax credit and additional child tax credit are refundable tax credits; taxpayers who claim them take longer than usual to get the refund in case of e-filing. On-paper won’t have to wait longer; they get it as the refund timeline.
Tax refunds with EITC or ACTC are delayed because of the PATH Act. It is a law that prohibits the agency from issuing refunds before mid-February of any tax season.
If you e-file in the early stage by claiming EITC or ACTC, you have to wait until late February 2026 to get a refund. As the on-paper filing takes at least 6 weeks, if we add this time frame to mid-January, we get late February.
What’s the estimated tax refund schedule for 2026?
The schedule to get the tax refund after electronic and on-paper filing for the tax year is available in the table below. Go through it to check it when you are going to get your direct deposit in case of filing on a certain date.
Electronic Filing
| Filed | Received | Accepted | Sent |
| Jan 15 | Jan 16 | Jan 26–30 | Feb 4 |
| Jan 22 | Jan 23 | Feb 2–6 | Feb 11 |
| Jan 29 | Jan 30 | Feb 9–13 | Feb 18 |
| Feb 5 | Feb 6 | Feb 16–20 | Feb 27 |
| Feb 12 | Feb 13 | Feb 23–27 | Mar 6 |
| Feb 19 | Feb 20 | Mar 2–6 | Mar 13 |
| Feb 26 | Feb 27 | Mar 9–13 | Mar 20 |
| Mar 5 | Mar 6 | Mar 16–20 | Mar 27 |
| Mar 12 | Mar 13 | Mar 23–27 | Apr 3 |
| Mar 19 | Mar 20 | Mar 30–Apr 3 | Apr 10 |
On-paper Filing
| Filed | Received | Accepted | Sent |
| Jan 15 | Jan 22 | Feb 19 | Feb 24 |
| Jan 22 | Jan 29 | Feb 26 | Mar 3 |
| Jan 29 | Feb 5 | Mar 5 | Mar 10 |
| Feb 5 | Feb 12 | Mar 12 | Mar 17 |
| Feb 12 | Feb 19 | Mar 19 | Mar 24 |
| Feb 19 | Feb 26 | Mar 26 | Mar 31 |
| Feb 26 | Mar 5 | Apr 2 | Apr 7 |
| Mar 5 | Mar 12 | Apr 9 | Apr 14 |
| Mar 12 | Mar 19 | Apr 16 | Apr 21 |
| Mar 19 | Mar 26 | Apr 23 | Apr 28 |
How to check the exact date to get the 2026 refund?
It is possible to check the date on which the agency will release the refund. The only requirement for this is that your tax return is accepted. The complete step-by-step instructions are available below:
- Go to the official website of the Internal Revenue Service at IRS.gov.
- Jump to the section of ‘Tools & Applications,’ and click on the ‘Where’s My Refund?’ to go to the next page.
- Now, you click on the ‘Check your refund’ button to access the page to check the tax refund status.
- Fill in your SSN, choose your tax year, opt for the filing status, enter the refund amount, and click on the Submit button.
If the agency has received your refund, you will see the date on which they will release your refund via direct deposit.
Disclaimer: The 2026 tax refund timeline is for general awareness only. Official refund dates are determined by the IRS.