Have you done your taxes yet? I am planning on doing mine this weekend and like many people as soon as I finish, I like knowing when my refund check is going to be deposited.
The quickest way to get your refund
It is probably common knowledge that you will get your tax refund quicker when you choose the direct deposit option. You also should eFile your tax return if possible and as I mentioned in a post I did about getting free state tax filing you should submit it before Friday, since they only process the eFiled returns once a week. Of course, if you don’t really care when you get your refund, take your good old time.
So when will you get your refund check?
1. If you eFiled, check the status to be sure that it was accepted by the IRS.
2. You can also check the status of your tax refund on the IRS website. This should tell you when you will be receiving your check. Although, it is good to keep in mind that the IRS doesn’t guarantee any dates, they are all approximations.
Approximate tax refund schedule 2009
Assuming you filed your taxes properly, the below schedule should give you a good estimate of when you can expect to receive your paper check from the IRS or the money in your account if you chose the direct deposit option.
|
Transmitted and IRS
accepted between |
Bank Direct Deposit
|
Paper Check Sent
|
|---|---|---|
| 01/09/2009 – 01/16/2009 (11am) | 01/26/2009 | 02/02/2009 |
| 01/16/2009 – 01/23/2009 (11am) | 02/02/2009 | 02/09/2009 |
| 01/23/2009 – 01/30/2009 (11am) | 02/09/2009 | 02/16/2009 |
| 01/30/2009 – 02/06/2009 (11am) | 02/16/2009 | 02/23/2009 |
| 02/06/2009 – 02/13/2009 (11am) | 02/23/2009 | 03/02/2009 |
| 02/13/2009 – 02/20/2009 (11am) | 03/02/2009 | 03/09/2009 |
| 02/20/2009 – 02/27/2009 (11am) | 03/09/2009 | 03/16/2009 |
| 02/27/2009 – 03/06/2009 (11am) | 03/16/2009 | 03/23/2009 |
| 03/06/2009 – 03/13/2009 (11am) | 03/23/2009 | 03/30/2009 |
| 03/13/2009 – 03/20/2009 (11am) | 03/30/2009 | 04/06/2009 |
| 03/20/2009 – 03/27/2009 (11am) | 04/06/2009 | 04/13/2009 |
| 03/27/2009 – 04/03/2009 (11am) | 04/13/2009 | 04/20/2009 |
| 04/03/2009 – 04/10/2009 (11am) | 04/20/2009 | 04/27/2009 |
| 04/10/2009 – 04/17/2009 (11am) | 04/27/2009 | 05/04/2009 |
| 04/17/2009 – 04/24/2009 (11am) | 05/04/2009 | 05/11/2009 |
| 04/24/2009 – 05/01/2009 (11am) | 05/11/2009 | 05/18/2009 |
| 05/01/2009 – 05/08/2009 (11am) | 05/18/2009 | 05/25/2009 |
| 05/08/2009 – 05/15/2009 (11am) | 05/25/2009 | 06/01/2009 |
| 05/15/2009 – 05/22/2009 (11am) | 06/01/2009 | 06/08/2009 |
| 05/22/2009 – 05/29/2009 (11am) | 06/08/2009 | 06/15/2009 |
| 05/29/2009 – 06/05/2009 (11am) | 06/15/2009 | 06/22/2009 |
| 06/05/2009 – 06/12/2009 (11am) | 06/22/2009 | 06/29/2009 |
| 06/12/2009 – 06/19/2009 (11am) | 06/29/2009 | 07/06/2009 |
| 06/19/2009 – 06/26/2009 (11am) | 07/06/2009 | 07/13/2009 |
| 06/26/2009 – 07/03/2009 (11am) | 07/13/2009 | 07/20/2009 |
| 07/03/2009 – 07/10/2009 (11am) | 07/20/2009 | 07/27/2009 |
| 07/10/2009 – 07/17/2009 (11am) | 07/27/2009 | 08/03/2009 |
| 07/17/2009 – 07/24/2009 (11am) | 08/03/2009 | 08/10/2009 |
| 07/24/2009 – 07/31/2009 (11am) | 08/10/2009 | 08/17/2009 |
| 07/31/2009 – 08/07/2009 (11am) | 08/17/2009 | 08/24/2009 |
| 08/07/2009 – 08/14/2009 (11am) | 08/24/2009 | 08/31/2009 |
| 08/14/2009 – 08/21/2009 (11am) | 08/31/2009 | 09/07/2009 |
| 08/21/2009 – 08/28/2009 (11am) | 09/07/2009 | 09/14/2009 |
| 08/28/2009 – 09/04/2009 (11am) | 09/14/2009 | 09/21/2009 |
| 09/04/2009 – 09/11/2009 (11am) | 09/21/2009 | 09/28/2009 |
| 09/11/2009 – 09/18/2009 (11am) | 09/28/2009 | 10/05/2009 |
| 09/18/2009 – 09/25/2009 (11am) | 10/05/2009 | 10/12/2009 |
| 09/25/2009 – 10/02/2009 (11am) | 10/12/2009 | 10/19/2009 |
| 10/02/2009 – 10/09/2009 (11am) | 10/19/2009 | 10/26/2009 |
| 10/09/2009 – 10/16/2009 (11am) | 10/26/2009 | 11/02/2009 |
| 10/16/2009 – 10/23/2009 (11am) | 11/02/2009 | 11/09/2009 |
Estimated tax refund schedule for 2010
| Transmitted and IRS accepted
between… |
Bank Direct
Deposit |
Paper Check
Sent |
| Jan 15 and Jan 21, 2010 (by 11am) | Jan 29, 2010 | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Jan 21 and Jan 28, 2010 (by 11am) | Feb 5, 2010 | Feb 12, 2010 |
| Jan 28 and Feb 4, 2010 (by 11am) | Feb 12, 2010 | Feb 19, 2010 |
| Feb 4 and Feb 11, 2010 (by 11am) | Feb 19, 2010 | Feb 26, 2010 |
| Feb 11 and Feb 18, 2010 (by 11am) | Feb 26, 2010 | Mar 5, 2010 |
| Feb 18 and Feb 25, 2010 (by 11am) | Mar 5, 2010 | Mar 12, 2010 |
| Feb 25 and Mar 4, 2010 (by 11am) | Mar 12, 2010 | Mar 19, 2010 |
| Mar 4 and Mar 11, 2010 (by 11am) | Mar 19, 2010 | Mar 26, 2010 |
| Mar 11 and Mar 18, 2010 (by 11am) | Mar 26, 2010 | Apr 2, 2010 |
| Mar 18 and Mar 25, 2010 (by 11am) | Apr 2, 2010 | Apr 9, 2010 |
| Mar 25 and Apr 1, 2010 (by 11am) | Apr 9, 2010 | Apr 16, 2010 |
| Apr 1 and Apr 8, 2010 (by 11am) | Apr 16, 2010 | Apr 23, 2010 |
| Apr 8 and Apr 15, 2010 (by 11am) | Apr 23, 2010 | Apr 30, 2010 |
| Apr 15 and Apr 22, 2010 (by 11am) | Apr 30, 2010 | May 7, 2010 |
| Apr 22 and Apr 29, 2010 (by 11am) | May 7, 2010 | May 14, 2010 |
| Apr 29 and May 6, 2010 (by 11am) | May 14, 2010 | May 21, 2010 |
| May 6 and May 13, 2010 (by 11am) | May 21, 2010 | May 28, 2010 |
| May 13 and May 20, 2010 (by 11am) | May 28, 2010 | May 28, 2010 |
| May 20 and May 27, 2010 (by 11am) | Jun 4, 2010 | Jun 11, 2010 |
| May 27 and Jun 3, 2010 (by 11am) | Jun 11, 2010 | Jun 18, 2010 |
| Jun 3 and Jun 10, 2010 (by 11am) | Jun 18, 2010 | Jun 25, 2010 |
| Jun 10 and Jun 17, 2010 (by 11am) | Jun 25, 2010 | Jul 2, 2010 |
| Jun 17 and Jun 24, 2010 (by 11am) | Jul 2, 2010 | Jul 9, 2010 |
| Jun 24 and Jul 1, 2010 (by 11am) | Jul 9, 2010 | Jul 16, 2010 |
| Jul 1 and Jul 8, 2010 (by 11am) | Jul 16, 2010 | Jul 23, 2010 |
| Jul 8 and Jul 15, 2010 (by 11am) | Jul 23, 2010 | Jul 30, 2010 |
| Jul 15 and Jul 22, 2010 (by 11am) | Jul 30, 2010 | Aug 6, 2010 |
| Jul 22 and Jul 29, 2010 (by 11am) | Aug 6, 2010 | Aug 13, 2010 |
| Jul 29 and Aug 5, 2010 (by 11am) | Aug 13, 2010 | Aug 20, 2010 |
| Aug 5 and Aug 12, 2010 (by 11am) | Aug 20, 2010 | Aug 27, 2010 |
| Aug 12 and Aug 19, 2010 (by 11am) | Aug 27, 2010 | Sep 3, 2010 |
| Aug 19 and Aug 26, 2010 (by 11am) | Sep 3, 2010 | Sep 10, 2010 |
| Aug 26 and Sep 2, 2010 (by 11am) | Sep 10, 2010 | Sep 17, 2010 |
| Sep 2 and Sep 9, 2010 (by 11am) | Sep 17, 2010 | Sep 24, 2010 |
| Sep 9 and Sep 16, 2010 (by 11am) | Sep 24, 2010 | Oct 1, 2010 |
| Sep 16 and Sep 23, 2010 (by 11am) | Oct 1, 2010 | Oct 8, 2010 |
| Sep 23 and Sep 30, 2010 (by 11am) | Oct 8, 2010 | Oct 15, 2010 |
| Sep 30 and Oct 7, 2010 (by 11am) | Oct 15, 2010 | Oct 22, 2010 |
| Oct 7 and Oct 14, 2010 (by 11am) | Oct 22, 2010 | Oct 29, 2010 |
| Oct 14 and Oct 21, 2010 (by 11am) | Oct 29, 2010 | Nov 5, 2010 |
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to readers. Read more here.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
about time i could get a legit answer
Exactly wut i was looking for
Gee wiz why can’t everyone give you direct answers like this?? Extremely appreciated
its what i was looking for but i still have not recieve my refund. i filed it on the 26 of jan. it is for direct deposit. my bank said nothing came in yet. what should i do?
Very helpful!
are these dates for e-filing or when you mail in your papers? I had an accountant do mine, since he is a family friend so i did not e-file, so i am wondering when i will get my refund if i sent the papers to the office.
I know a lot of people have been wondering how long it takes to get the first time homebuyer tax credit so I figured I would relate my experience:
I sent my 2009 Tax Return with the HUD form by certified mail on February 22nd, 2010. I started checking the “Where’s My Refund” site but did not get any information from it until around March 22nd, when it said that I should receive my refund by April 27th if no problems were found. I kept checking the “Where’s My Refund” site periodically and then on March 30, 2010 it said it would be deposited into my account on April 2nd, 2010 and voila! It was.
A lot of people seem to be having trouble with this (my neighbor bought their house 2 months before us in September 2009 and they amended their 2008 return and they haven’t received theirs yet).
Anyway, I hope this helps
I have no idea where this information came from. I amended my 2008 return on Feb 15 the Irs recevied it on Feb 18 still NO refund. I have called SEVERAL time with the same excuse STILL PROCESSING. It is going on 5 months no money. What am I missing? How do some people get their money quickly, some people don’t?
i filled on the 13th of October 2010 and have not received anything yet? should i call the IRS? or wait one week? or till Friday?
I heard tax preparers weren’t able to submit our returns until after 2/14/11. Is that true?
SO WE HAD TO SEND A PAPER RETURN IN BUT WE OPTED FOR A DIRECT DEPOSIT, SENT IT IN ON THE 1ST OF FEB HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET THAT DIRECT DEPOSIT??
I’m in the same situation as you Ryanne S. I had to send a paper return ( my first year doing so) and sent it the 1st of Feb., I just checked the irs website and it states that I should get my return BY march 22, does anyone know if it will be sooner than that? I asked for direct deposit as well
If you E-filed that means it was done electronically so it takes less time to receive your refund. However if you had your taxes mailed in it takes longer. It takes about 2 weeks to receive them if u E- filed. Especially if u did them around this time, because usually everyone is doing them last minute.
If you Efiled and you were trying to repay the 2008 First Time credit your refund was/is delayed.When checking the IRS “Where’s My Refund” site I was initially given a refund expectation date. A week later that date changed to an error message with an extension to call for more information. When I called I was advised by the IRS agent that there was a “glitch” in the system, due to late changes in Congress, and their systems would not process the repayment. What I do not understand is why the system did not simply reject the Efiled return. The error message has since changed to an expected refund delivery date, but the amount of the refund is now missing. Hopefully the refund will be electronically deposited as the IRS noted.
I sent mine in by paper on Feb 14th and was trying to repay the 2008 First Time credit. I too, when checking the “Where’s my Refund” site was given a date of April 3. Aweek later that was removed with a error. When I called they couldn’t give me a date on when I would receive my refund. Its now April 16 and I still have no info.
{ 1 trackback }