The 2025 tax season will begin like in the third week of January 2026. Note that for the IRS for the tax year 2025, the refund will be issued only via direct deposit; not a single taxpayer is going to get a paper refund check.
As per the Internal Revenue Service, all the refunds that will be filed electronically will be issued within 21 days without any error; in the case of the on-paper filing, you have to wait for at least six weeks to get the refund.
What’s the IRS refund timeline for 2026?
The IRS will start processing the refund from the date the 2026 tax season will begin. It is expected for the early filer the refund will be received by late January 2026, but EITC/CTC claimants will have to wait a long time.
If you claim earned income tax credit or child tax credit, you have to wait until the middle of February 2025 to get it processed, because the PATH Act stops the IRS from issuing refunds with EITC/CTC before this date.
Note that the most expected date to get the refund by claiming tax credits is the third week of February 2026. Usually, it takes 10 days to get the refund direct deposit once the IRS has accepted your tax return.
What’s the 2026 IRS Refund Schedule?
The Internal Revenue Service doesn’t release any schedule to get the tax refund. We have prepared an estimated direct deposit date for the tax year 2025 based on the refund timeline of electronic and on-paper filing.
Electronic Filing
| E-File Date | IRS “Received” Date | IRS “Accepted” Date | Estimated Direct Deposit Date |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Jan 20 | Jan 21 | Feb 7 – Feb 11 |
| Jan 24, 2026 | Jan 24 | Jan 25 | Feb 11 – Feb 15 |
| Jan 27, 2026 | Jan 27 | Jan 27–28 | Feb 14 – Feb 18 |
| Jan 31, 2026 | Jan 31 | Feb 1 | Feb 21 – Feb 25 |
| Feb 3, 2026 | Feb 3 | Feb 4 | Feb 24 – Feb 28 |
| Feb 7, 2026 | Feb 7 | Feb 8 | Feb 28 – Mar 4 |
| Feb 10, 2026 | Feb 10 | Feb 11 | Mar 3 – Mar 7 |
| Feb 14, 2026 | Feb 14 | Feb 15 | Mar 7 – Mar 11 |
| Feb 21, 2026 | Feb 21 | Feb 22 | Mar 14 – Mar 18 |
| Feb 28, 2026 | Feb 28 | Mar 1 | Mar 21 – Mar 25 |
| Mar 7, 2026 | Mar 7 | Mar 8 | Mar 28 – Apr 1 |
| Mar 14, 2026 | Mar 14 | Mar 15 | Apr 4 – Apr 8 |
| Mar 21, 2026 | Mar 21 | Mar 22 | Apr 11 – Apr 15 |
| Mar 28, 2026 | Mar 28 | Mar 29 | Apr 18 – Apr 22 |
| Apr 4, 2026 | Apr 4 | Apr 5 | Apr 25 – Apr 29 |
| Apr 15, 2026 | Apr 15 | Apr 15–16 | May 6 – May 10 |
On-paper Filing
| Mail / Postmark Date | IRS Receives | IRS Accepts | Estimated Direct Deposit Date |
| Jan 10–15, 2026 | Jan 15–20 | Feb 5–8 | Mar 25 – Apr 5, 2026 |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Jan 25 | Feb 12 | Apr 1 – Apr 10 |
| Jan 27, 2026 | Jan 30 | Feb 18 | Apr 8 – Apr 18 |
| Feb 1, 2026 | Feb 5 | Feb 22 | Apr 15 – Apr 25 |
| Feb 7, 2026 | Feb 12 | Feb 28 | Apr 22 – May 2 |
| Feb 15, 2026 | Feb 20 | Mar 5 | Apr 29 – May 10 |
| Feb 25, 2026 | Mar 1 | Mar 12 | May 8 – May 18 |
| Mar 5, 2026 | Mar 10 | Mar 20 | May 18 – May 28 |
| Mar 15, 2026 | Mar 20 | Mar 28 | May 28 – Jun 8 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 5 | Apr 15 | Jun 15 – Jun 25 |
| Apr 15, 2026 | Apr 18 | May 2 | Jul 5 – Jul 15 |
The schedule given above to get the refund via direct deposit in case of electronic and on-paper filing is estimated. Note that you may get your payment with a delay of up to 2 to 3 days, and it can even be received earlier.
Below, we also have shared the estimated schedule to get the refund in case of claiming the tax credits: EITC and CTC.
| File Date | IRS Accepts | Refund Release Window | Estimated Direct Deposit |
| Jan 20–25 | Jan 27–29 | Earliest allowed: Feb 15–18 | Feb 20 – Feb 28 |
| Jan 26–31 | Jan 31 – Feb 2 | Feb 17–21 | Feb 24 – Mar 4 |
| Feb 1–7 | Feb 3–8 | Feb 20–25 | Feb 28 – Mar 8 |
| Feb 8–14 | Feb 10–15 | Feb 24–28 | Mar 4 – Mar 12 |
| Feb 15–21 | Feb 17–23 | Mar 1–5 | Mar 7 – Mar 15 |
| Feb 22–28 | Feb 24 – Mar 1 | Mar 5–9 | Mar 12 – Mar 20 |
| Mar 1–7 | Mar 3–8 | Mar 10–14 | Mar 17 – Mar 25 |
| Mar 8–14 | Mar 10–15 | Mar 17–21 | Mar 24 – Mar 31 |
In the case of on-paper filing, you may have to move to get the EITC/CTC refund.
Disclaimer : Refund times vary by filer and IRS processing. Check the official IRS site for updates.
