(WASHINGTON) - The Internal Revenue Service opened the 2026 tax filing season on Jan. 26, allowing taxpayers to submit returns for the 2025 tax year.
The IRS says most refunds from electronically filed, error-free returns are issued within 21 days. Paper-filed returns typically take six weeks or longer to process. Taxpayers are encouraged to use direct deposit to receive refunds more quickly.
IRS CEO Frank Bisignano said a partial federal government shutdown that began Feb. 1 will not delay refunds for electronically filed returns without errors.
Filers can track their refund status using the IRS "Where's My Refund?" tool, which updates within 24 hours of e-filing and provides information for the current and previous two tax years. Amended returns may take up to three weeks to appear in the system and as long as 16 weeks to process, with tracking available through a separate "Where's My Amended Return?" tool.
The IRS continues to phase out paper refund checks but will still issue them when necessary. Options for taxpayers without bank accounts include prepaid debit cards and digital wallets. The agency reports that 93% of individual refunds--about 93.5 million payments--were issued via direct deposit in 2025.