Refunds

The exact amount of your refund, your Social Security number or ITIN, your filing status, and the tax year are all listed on your tax return. If you do not have your tax return, you can request a copy of your tax records and transcripts.

Your refund might be delayed for:

• A common mistake. These include forgetting to sign your return or making a math error.
• Claiming the Earned Income Credit. By law, refunds that include this credit are held until mid-February to prevent fraud.
• Claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit. This credit can be complicated and requires more time to review.
• Filing an amended return. The IRS must compare the two returns as well as review both.
• Requesting injured spouse relief. This requires the IRS to manually process your case.

Sometimes we must make changes and corrections to your tax return which could lower your refund amount. If you have an outstanding tax balance, some of your refund may be automatically applied to that balance through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). These balances include past-due child support, federal and state debt or tax obligations, or unemployment compensation debts. Your refund can also be applied to your spouse’s debts on a married filing joint return.

Sometimes we make changes or corrections to your tax return which could increase your refund amount. When this happens, we mail a notice explaining the adjustment to your address of record. If you believe your refund is increased accidentally or you receive a refund that you are not entitled to, then you must promptly return the erroneous refund.

If you lose your refund check, you must initiate a refund trace.

• Use Where's My Refund, call the automated hotline at 800-829-1954, or speak with a representative at 800-829-1040 (see telephone assistance for hours of operation).
  • If you filed a married filing jointly return, you can’t initiate a trace using the automated systems. Call and speak with a representative to get the process started or download and complete Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund PDF.

If your refund check was stolen, you can make a claim for it in one of two ways:

• Cashed – If the refund check has been cashed, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) will provide you with a claim package that includes a copy of the cashed check and instructions to request a new check.
• Not cashed – If the check has not been cashed, you'll receive a refund by other means once the original check is canceled.

Mistakes happen. You can correct or amend your return with a Form 1040-X. Do not send another Form 1040 with changes. Sending a second return creates a duplicate submission which will slow down the processing of your return and could delay your refund.

The status of an amended return can be checked after three weeks with Where's My Amended Return? Amended returns may need up to 16 weeks to process.