The taxpayers who have filed the extension have time until October 15, 2025, to file the federal tax refund for the tax year 2024. Individuals may use IRS’s Free File or Direct File to file the return, both of these tools are available for e-filing.
By filing a tax refund electronically and choosing the payment method as direct deposit, one can get the refund within 21 days. More than half of Americans have already received theirs by mid April 2025, and individuals who have e-filed the refund on April 14, 2025, can anticipate to get it most probably in the early May 2025.
Refund Schedule
The Internal Revenue Service takes hardly 3 weeks to release the refund for e-filing, for paper check it takes upto 6 weeks, only if the payment method is opted as direct deposit. Incase of paper check, the refund is delayed upto 7 to 10 days, you may check the estimated schedule to get the refund for e-file by going through tabulated data.
| E-Filed Date | Direct Deposit | Paper Check |
| April 16, 2025 | Early May 2025 | Mid May 2025 |
| April 23, 2025 | Mid May 2025 | Late May 2025 |
| April 30, 2025 | Late May 2025 | Early June 2025 |
| May 7, 2025 | Early June 2025 | Mid June 2025 |
| May 14, 2025 | Mid June 2025 | Late June 2025 |
| May 21, 2025 | Late June 2025 | Early July 2025 |
| May 28, 2025 | Early July 2025 | Mid July 2025 |
| June 4, 2025 | Mid July 2025 | Late July 2025 |
| June 11, 2025 | Late July 2025 | Early August 2025 |
| June 18, 2025 | Early August 2025 | Mid August 2025 |
| June 25, 2025 | Mid August 2025 | Late August 2025 |
| July 2, 2025 | Late August 2025 | Early September 2025 |
| July 9, 2025 | Early September 2025 | Mid September 2025 |
| July 16, 2025 | Mid September 2025 | Late September 2025 |
| July 23, 2025 | Late September 2025 | Early October 2025 |
| July 30, 2025 | Early October 2025 | Mid October 2025 |
| August 6, 2025 | Mid October 2025 | Late October 2025 |
| August 13, 2025 | Late October 2025 | Early November 2025 |
| August 20, 2025 | Early November 2025 | Mid November 2025 |
| August 27, 2025 | Mid November 2025 | Late November 2025 |
| September 3, 2025 | Late November 2025 | Early December 2025 |
| September 10, 2025 | Early December 2025 | Mid December 2025 |
| September 17, 2025 | Mid December 2025 | Late December 2025 |
| September 24, 2025 | Late December 2025 | Early January 2026 |
| October 1, 2025 | Early January 2026 | Mid January 2026 |
| October 8, 2025 | Mid January 2026 | Late January 2026 |
| October 15, 2025 | Late January 2026 | Early February 2026 |
For the paper-refund file on April 16, 2025, the refund via direct deposit is expected to be released by last May 2025, and incase of paper check, the taxpayer may have to wait until the mid June 2025.
Refund Status
To check the federal tax refund status for tax year 2024, the IRS has provided two options: the first one is ‘Where’s My Refund?,’ tool, and second is IRS2Go mobile application. To check the filing status using the web-based tool, you need to go through the step-by-step instructions.
- Access the Where’s My Refund? tool by visiting the URL at https://irs.gov/wheres-my-refund/.
- Now, you will see an option that reads ‘Check your refund,’ tap on it and get redirected to next page.
- Lastly, you have to enter/option your SSN, Tax Year, Filing Status and Refund Amount and hit the Submit button.
Once you have gone through the step-by-step instructions above, you will successfully have checked the IRS Tax Refund status.
Refund Stages
The stage of the IRS federal tax refund 2025 are Received, Accepted and Sent. Individuals may check the details about the each stage by going through the listed points.
- Recieved: The IRS has received your federal refund for tax year 2024, and it is yet to be reviewed.
- Accepted: The IRS has accepted by the tax refund for tax year 2024, now they are going to send it via the opted payment gateway.
- Send: The IRS has send the refund via the opted payment method, the direct deposit will be received within 72 hours, and paper check will take upto 2 weeks.