Where's my refund | Getting your money from the government

Wondering where your tax refund check is? Image: Flickr / substack / CC-BY-SA

The new year is here, and that means it is time for taxes. If you’re left wondering where’s my refund, there is a way to check. There are “where’s my refund” scams out there, so it is important to make sure you’re getting your information from the right place.

Where’s My Refund – the IRS service

The IRS offers an online service to help you track your tax refund. Called “Where’s My Refund,” the service taps into the IRS database to track where, exactly, your tax refund stands. It provides information on the most recent tax year, and stays on the “Where’s My Refund” website until the second week of December. After that point, the system clears in preparation for the next year’s tax refund information.

How to get your refund information

Getting information about where your refund money stands does require you to provide some information to the IRS website. You need to have your Social Security number, your filing status, and the whole-dollar amount that your refund should be. Enter this information into the IRS Where’s My Refund website, and it should return information on the status of your refund. This will only work if you have actually submitted your tax return. If you have not yet submitted your tax return, the IRS website cannot give you any information.

Watch out for Where’s my refund scams

There are plenty of spammers and illegitimate websites out there that try to get your information by playing off people trying to find the “where’s my refund” question. The IRS does not send out emails asking for personal information. If you do get an email that claims to come from the IRS, do not click on any links or reply to those emails. Instead, you should only go to IRS.gov. You should also report any emails asking for personal information to the IRS, because they are technically illegal.