How to Track Your Tax Refund After Filing With TurboTax

It helps to know who does what. TurboTax prepares and transmits your return, but the IRS processes it and issues your federal refund. For state refunds, your state tax agency is in charge. So once you've filed, the status you'll want to watch lives with the tax authorities, not the software.

This is an independent guide and not affiliated with Intuit or the IRS.

The official way to check a federal refund is the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool, available on the IRS website and through the IRS mobile app. To use it, you'll generally need:

• Your Social Security number or taxpayer ID.
• Your filing status.
• The exact refund amount from your return.

E-filing with direct deposit is generally the fastest way to get your refund, often within a few weeks for straightforward returns. Paper returns and mailed checks take longer. Certain credits can slow things down too, since the IRS holds some returns for extra review early in the season.

The tool usually shows a few stages: the return received, the refund approved, and the refund sent. Once it reaches the sent stage, direct deposits arrive in a few business days and mailed checks take longer. Check once a day at most, since the system updates on its own schedule.

State refunds are tracked separately on your state tax agency's website. Most states have their own lookup tool similar to the IRS one. The federal and state refunds move independently, so it's totally normal for one to show up well before the other.

A few things can slow a refund down:

• Errors or mismatches on the return.
• Identity verification steps.
• Certain credits subject to extra review.
• Filing on paper instead of electronically.

If the tool shows a delay or asks you to take action, follow its instructions rather than refiling.