This time of year comes around every year. Many people find this time of the year very stressful, especially those who are filing their taxes for the first time.
But now that it is tax season, a lot of people can look forward to getting their money back from the taxes they paid. The exact date of your refund will depend on a number of things, but you should get it soon after filing.
When can you expect your refund:
Tax filers can get an idea of when they can start expecting to get their refunds from the following chart by CPA Practice Advisor:
| If the IRS Accepts an E-Filed Return By: | Then Direct Deposit refund may be received as early as 10 days after e-file accepted. (E-filed, but paper check mailed apx. 1 week after that): |
|---|---|
| The IRS started accepting returns on Jan. 27, 2025. | |
| Jan. 27, 2025 | Feb. 7 (Feb. 14)** |
| Feb. 3 | Feb. 14 (Feb. 21)** |
| Feb. 10 | Feb. 21 (Feb. 28)** |
| Feb. 17 | Feb. 28 (Mar. 7)** |
| Feb. 24 | Mar. 7 (Mar. 14) |
| Mar. 3 | Mar. 14 (Mar. 21) |
| Mar. 10 | Mar. 21 (Mar. 28) |
| Mar. 17 | Mar. 28 (Apr. 4) |
| Mar. 24*** | Apr. 4 (Apr. 11)*** |
| Mar. 31*** | Apr. 11 (Apr. 18)*** |
| Apr. 7 *** | Apr. 18 (Apr. 25)*** |
| Apr. 14*** | Apr. 25 (May 2)*** |
** = Returns with EITC or CTC may have refunds delayed until March to verify credits.
*** = Filing during peak season (late March through April 15) can result in slightly longer waits.
| IRS Accepts Return By: | Direct Deposit Sent (Or Paper Check Mailed one week later) |
|---|---|
| Apr. 21 | May 2 (May 9) |
| Apr. 28 | May 9 (May 16) |
| May 5 | May 16 (May 23) |
| May 12 | May 23 (May 30) |
| May 19 | May 30 (June 6) |
What will effect when you receive your refund?
For most employees, filing their income tax is pretty easy. However, some may need more paperwork, which will change when you can expect to get your tax refund. Also, keep in mind that getting a tax refund is not a given, but it does happen a lot of the time. The IRS processed about 136 million tax returns and gave back about $245 billion to taxpayers in 2024.
If you need to do more with your money than just file a W-2 form, this will cause your refund to be delayed. Most likely, people who are married, divorced, have a child, are retired, bought or sold a house, or own crypto or foreign assets will have to wait longer.
If you know that your tax situation is complicated, you should talk to a tax expert to make sure that you are not only following the rules but also getting the most out of tax credits and deductions.
How taxes contribute towards the health of the economy
Taxes are an important part of any society that works. You owe it to your country to pay them, and they help pay for things like schools. As Trump takes office for a second time, there have been rumors about a possible plan to change the way the federal government handles taxes. According to an article from the Tax Foundation, President Trump has called for the following tax reforms:
- Making the individual TCJA expirations permanent except for the cap on SALT (effective January 1, 2026)
- Rates and brackets
- Standard deduction
- Personal exemption
- Child tax credit and other dependent tax credit
- Limitations on itemized deductions (excluding SALT) and elimination of Pease limitation
- AMT changes
- Section 199A pass-through deduction and noncorporate loss limitation
- Making the TCJA estate tax changes permanent (effective January 1, 2026)
- Restoring the TCJA business tax provisions (effective January 1, 2026)
- 100 percent bonus depreciation
- R&D expensing
- EBITDA-based interest limitation
- Reinstituting the domestic production activities deduction (DPAD) at 28.5 percent to lower the effective corporate tax rate for domestic production to 15 percent
- Exempting tips from income taxes
- Exempting Social Security benefits from income taxes
- Exempting overtime pay from income taxes
- Creating an itemized deduction for auto loan interest
- Eliminating the green energy subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
- Raising current Section 301 tariffs on China to 60 percent
- Imposing a universal tariff on all US imports of 20 percent
- Foreign retaliation of 10 percent on all US exports plus additional in-kind tariffs on US exports to China
It is still not clear how many of these would actually be put into action. The only thing that is certain is that your tax returns for 2024 and 2025 are due April 15, 2025. When you file, just watch out not to get ripped off.
Also See:- New Tax Refunds on the way: Find out when the IRS will send your 2025 stimulus check
