| They often say you can find a silver lining with just | | | | visit the website for the agency. On the home page, |
| about everything. In the case of filing your taxes, | | | | you will find a link titled "Where's My Refund?" Click it |
| getting a refund is definitely the silver lining. That, of | | | | and you will be taken to an interactive tool that ties into |
| course, assumes you get one. | | | | the IRS system. This magic little freebie will tell you |
| You have slaved through the tax preparation process. | | | | how things are going with processing your refund. |
| You spent hours digging up receipts, checking bank | | | | To use the tool, you need a copy of your return. You |
| statements and tracking down credit card bills. You | | | | will need to provide your social security number, filing |
| then spent more time reading torturous IRS instruction | | | | status and the exact amount of the refund you are |
| pamphlets. Finally, you finished your return and | | | | expecting. Just to be clear, your filing status is the |
| discovered something glorious. Yep, you are due a | | | | designation you picked when filing out your return. You |
| refund! You rush off, file your return and start waiting. | | | | know, "single", "head of household" and so on. |
| If the IRS owes you money, how long will it take to get | | | | Once you fill out the form, the tool will access the |
| the check? Well, it depends. If you filed electronically or | | | | database and kick out an answer. You will see |
| opted to let the IRS wire the money to your bank | | | | something along the lines of 1) We received your |
| account, it can take two to four weeks. If you opted to | | | | return and are processing it, 2) the check is in the mail |
| have them send you a check, the time can double. | | | | and was sent on this date, or 3) You gave us the |
| The biggest issue in getting your tax refund is figuring | | | | wrong address. The answers are not as helpful as |
| out how far it is in working its way through the IRS | | | | you might think, but give you a general idea of how |
| bureaucracy. Well, the IRS has set up a helpful online | | | | things are proceeding. |
| tool to assist you. Yes, the IRS being helpful. Shocking, | | | | That is it. The process is shockingly simple given the |
| eh? | | | | complexities of actually preparing a tax return. |
| To find out the status of your tax return, you need to | | | | |