The Best Way To File Your Taxes For The Fastest Tax Refund

When you are waiting on a tax refund, the delay can seem to last forever. This is especially the case for those who really need the money. The good news is that there are specific things you can do to speed up the tax return processing and refund timeframes.

Nowadays the Internal Revenue Service makes it easy to obtain an estimate on when you will have your refund. Fortunately the IRS publishes reliable guidelines on wait times for obtaining your funds. As GoBankingRates notes, the IRS issues the majority of refunds in under 21 days from the filing date.

In ideal circumstances you can hope to receive your refund in roughly three weeks. While you are waiting, you can get updates on your individual return status by going to either the "Where's My Refund?" tool on the IRS website or by using the IRS2Go app. Either way, they will tell you when your return has been received, the refund approved, and the refund sent. Keep in mind that your filing and refund receipt choices can impact this time estimate.

The time that you will have to wait on your tax refund depends mostly on how you file and choose to get your refund from the IRS. Your fastest path is through e-filing. If you e-file and choose the direct deposit option to your bank account, then you will usually receive your refund in only from one to three weeks.

The delay times only increase from here. E-filing is always the fastest way to receive your refund. Even if you have the refund check sent to you via the mail, an e-file application still will result in obtaining a refund in a month.

Paper filing is the surest way to delay your tax refund. When you choose to paper file by mail taking the direct deposit option, the IRS estimates a wait time of three weeks. The slowest outcome that you can get comes from filing by mail and having the IRS mail your refund check. Doing so results in a wait time of two months, according to GoBankingRates.

There are concrete steps that you can take to cut your refund wait down to the smallest amount of time. The first and most important thing to remember is to file as early as you possibly can. The longer you take to actually file your taxes with the IRS, the later your refund will arrive.

You should also be certain that you are filing accurately. It helps to use a tax preparation software or online tax service that will go through your return to look for omissions or mistakes. If the IRS has to contact you to get more information, this will delay your refund considerably, per GoBankingRates. Remember too that if you claim either the Additional Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit, the IRS will not process your refund before late February.

A final way to ensure quick receipt of your tax refund concerns your direct deposit account. This must be in your name as filed on your tax return. The IRS only deposits refunds into accounts that are in either your name, a spouse's name, or a joint bank account. Here are some other things you need to know about IRS tax refunds in 2025.