Why Your Tax Refund Is Late — and How to Track It

The IRS processed over 130 million federal income tax returns as of mid-April, according to the revenue department’s latest available tax-filing data. But what if you filed your tax return weeks ago and haven’t yet received your tax refund?

Several issues can cause the IRS to delay your refund. Here are a few of the main culprits.

Why Haven’t I Received My Tax Refund Yet?

It can take the IRS longer to scrutinize your 2025 tax return if it included errors or if you applied for additional tax credits.

There are five broad reasons the IRS outlined which could delay your tax refund:

• Common mistakes, such as forgetting to sign your return or making a math error
• Claiming the Earned Income Credit
• Claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit
• Filing an amended return
• Requesting injured spouse relief

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How to Track Your 2025 Income Tax Refund

You can track the status of your 2025 federal income tax refund by using the IRS refund status tool.

By using the IRS tool, you can also track the status of income tax refunds for 2023 and 2024.

You will need to enter your Social Security number, filing status and the exact amount of your expected refund, which is shown on your income tax return.

Financial resource Kiplinger created a breakdown of the IRS tax refund schedule:

Refund Delivery TimeFiling and Refund Delivery Methods

3 weeksE-file and direct deposit
4 weeksE-file and check
4 to 8 weeksMail in return and direct deposit
4 to 9 weeksMail in return and check

Average 2026 Tax Refund Tops $3,200

The average 2026 refund is nearly $300 higher than the average refund at this point last year, IRS data show, so filers have more reason to look for their checks.

According to the IRS, as of April 18, the average tax refund stood at $3,275 — an 11.1% increase over the $2,942 average from this point last year.

Overall, the revenue service has refunded $296.067 billion to tax filers, 17% higher than the $253.116 billion refunded to this point last year.

Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending, breaking and service-related topics across the Mid-Atlantic region for the USA TODAY Network.