The IRS does not officially release a calendar for receiving refunds. However, refunds for tax year 2025 are expected to begin being issued around February 4, 2026. If you have filed your tax return and want to know when you will receive your refund, please read this article.
In this article, we have shared an estimated refund calendar for the 2026 tax season based on last year’s trends and the IRS’ tax processing timeline. By looking at your filing date on this calendar, you can get an idea of when you will receive your refund direct deposit.
IRS Refund Calendar 2026
According to the IRS, 90% of refunds for electronically filed tax returns are issued within three weeks, provided all the information in the return is accurate. For paper-filed returns, it can take at least eight weeks to receive a refund.
We have included two tables below, one for the electronic filing and one for on-paper filing. You can refer to the relevant table to estimate when you will receive your refund.
E-filing
| Filed | Approved | Sent |
| January 9 to January 15 | January 26 to February 1 | February 4 to February 9 |
| January 16 to January 22 | February 2 to February 8 | February 11 to February 16 |
| January 23 to January 29 | February 9 to February 15 | February 18 to February 23 |
| January 30 to February 5 | February 16 to February 22 | February 25 to March 2 |
| February 6 to February 12 | February 23 to March 1 | March 4 to March 9 |
| February 13 to February 19 | March 2 to March 8 | March 11 to March 16 |
| February 20 to February 26 | March 9 to March 15 | March 18 to March 23 |
| February 27 to March 5 | March 16 to March 22 | March 25 to March 30 |
| March 6 to March 12 | March 23 to March 29 | April 1 to April 6 |
| March 13 to March 15 | March 30 to April 1 | April 8 to April 10 |
On-paper Filing
| Filed | Approved | Sent |
| January 9 to January 15 | February 20 to February 26 | March 2 to March 8 |
| January 16 to January 22 | February 27 to March 5 | March 9 to March 15 |
| January 23 to January 29 | March 6 to March 12 | March 16 to March 22 |
| January 30 to February 5 | March 13 to March 19 | March 23 to March 29 |
| February 6 to February 12 | March 20 to March 26 | March 30 to April 5 |
| February 13 to February 19 | March 27 to April 2 | April 6 to April 12 |
| February 20 to February 26 | April 3 to April 9 | April 13 to April 19 |
| February 27 to March 5 | April 10 to April 16 | April 20 to April 26 |
| March 6 to March 12 | April 17 to April 23 | April 27 to May 3 |
| March 13 to March 15 | April 24 to April 26 | May 4 to May 6 |
If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit on your tax return, you should know that your refund will be processed after February 15, because of the PATH Act.
According to the IRS official website, processing of these returns for tax year 2025 will begin on February 21, 2026 and initial refunds are expected to be received around March 2, 2026.
Note that if you file your tax return during the peak filing period, which is between the late-March 2026 and April 15, you may have to wait an extra week compared to the usual processing time due to the heavy workload during this period.
The refund will be processed according to your timeline only if all the details in your tax return are accurate. If there are any mistakes or missing documents, your refund may be unexpectedly delayed until you provide the correct details or documents.
To stay updated on your federal tax refund, we request that you regularly check your refund status using the Where’s My Refund? web-based tool or the IRS2Go mobile application.
