How long to get taxes back

Most taxpayers receive their refunds within 21 days. If you choose to have your refund deposited directly into your account, you may have to wait five days before you can gain access to it. If you request a refund check, you might have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive.

Additional factors could slow down the processing of your tax refund, such as errors, incomplete returns or fraud. Taxpayers who claim the earned income tax credit (EITC) or the additional child tax credit (ACTC) may see additional delays because of special rules that require the IRS to hold their refunds until Feb.

We issue most refunds in less than 21 calendar days. It is taking the IRS more than 21 days to issue refunds for some 2020 tax returns that require review including incorrect Recovery Rebate Credit amounts, or that used 2019 income to figure the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC).

REASONS TAX RETURN MAY TAKE LONGER TO PROCESS:

Is affected by identity theft or fraud. Includes a claim filed for an Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit using 2019 income. Includes a Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation, which could take up to 14 weeks to process. Needs further review in general.

And while refunds typically take around 21 days to process, the IRS says delays could be up to 120 days. The tax agency is also juggling stimulus checks, child tax credit payment problems and refunds for tax overpayment on unemployment benefits.

There are many different reasons why your refund may have not been processed yet, but the most common include: Your tax return included errors. Your tax return is incomplete. This could mean that all of the necessary forms were not sent to the IRS for processing.