How Long Will It Take To Get Your Tax Refund In 2025?

Tax season is officially here. That's right folks, it's time to collect those W-2s, 1099s, or whatever other tax form you need from your employer, crack open your laptop, and get to work. Now we all know that the actual act of filing your taxes isn't exactly the most enjoyable process. However, with all the modern tools that exist to make filing easy in 2025, this year it doesn't have to be as bad. After all, for those of us that have been working for a while, we should be used to this by now, right?

Well, maybe not. But either way, getting it over with sooner rather than later just means that you'll end up getting that ever-so-desired refund in a more prompt manner. After all, it's better not to put it off until the last minute, just in case you accidentally miss the deadline and have to find out what happens to your tax refund when you file late. That being said, when can you expect to receive our tax returns in 2025? It depends on several different factors, so let's take a closer look at when we can expect to receive those handsome checks we've worked so hard all year to earn.

The IRS kicked off tax season this year on January 27th, and is expecting to receive somewhere around 140 million tax returns by the time the deadline comes around on April 15th. Some good news for this year, however, is that if you're within one of the 25 states listed on the IRS website, you can actually file for free via the Free File tool. This can be useful to those who want to avoid the fees that come with using online tax services like TurboTax.

This is all part of a modernization effort on behalf of the IRS with the goal of making the tedious process of filing your tax return a little bit easier as the years go on. However, if you aren't amongst the 25 states listed for Free File, it may be worth checking out which is cheaper: using an online tax service or hiring a professional in order to figure out how to receive the most out of your refund. After all, many of us have plans for how we are going to spend our tax refunds this year, so finding the best way to maximize the check you get is more ideal than the alternative. Regardless, when we do end up filing our taxes, when can we expect to get our returns so that we can move on with our busy lives?

If you've been filing your taxes for a while, then at this point, depending on your usual method of filing, you probably already have some idea of when exactly you can expect your refund to hit your bank account. However, for those of us that are unaware, or even may have forgotten, let's dive into the details to see exactly what we can expect.

The best way to file your taxes in order to receive your refund the fastest is to do so electronically, whether that is through a tax service like H&R Block, TurboTax, or the IRS's new Free File service is up to you. In the case that this is how you go about it, you should receive your refund within up to 21 days of filing, as stated by the IRS. However, if you opt in to receive your refund by direct deposit it could even take less time. That being said, if you instead file your tax return by paper it could take as long as a month, so that probably isn't the best idea. Either way, if you want to check the status of your return, the IRS has a tool called "Where's My Refund" on their website that can be used 24 hours after electronically filing your return (or four weeks if done by paper) in order to figure out when you can expect it's arrival.