If you’re still waiting on your tax refund for this year, wondering “when will my tax refund be mailed?”, it should be relatively easy to get a correct answer.  Don’t sit around hoping that it’ll show up in time for whatever big plans you’ve made–find out when to expect that government repayment!

The IRS generally mails out refund checks within six weeks of receiving a traditionally-filed, paper return.  Based on my quick, estimate-y calculations, that would mean that the last of the checks for on-time (April 15) filers should’ve gone out at the end of May/the first few days of June.  It’s June 11 now.  Thus, if  “the check is in the mail”, it’s been there for more than a week.

If you haven’t received your refund yet, it should be showing up very, very soon.

If you filed electronically, you should already have your check.  Uncle Sam claims that all of those checks go out within three weeks of return filing.

If you are still waiting for your refund at this point, you’d be right to wonder whether they may be a problem with your filing or the processing of the refund.  After all, there are a few things that can slow or prevent delivery of an income tax refund check.

First, your return may have had something about it that picqued the IRS’ interest.  The IRS pays extra attention to about a half-million returns indicating a refund every year.  If that’s the case, though, you should know about it.  The government’s policy is to send a letter advising the taxpayer that his/her/their refund is “delayed for further review“.  They then follow up every three weeks until the matter is resolved.

Second, tens of thousands of refunds are undeliverable, often due to a taxpayer address change or an error in providing accurate information on the return.  It’s too early to know this year’s numbers for this particular phenomena, but in 2008 “more than 104,000 regular refund checks totaling about $103 million…were returned by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.”  If you’ve moved, this might be something to consider if you’re still wondering “when will my tax refund check be mailed?”

Third, if you have an outstanding tax obligation or are in default on those annoying student loans, the IRS can just keep you refund, applying it to the outstanding balance.  That shouldn’t be a surprise, though.  They do contact taxpayers when that happens.

Fourth, some say it’s possible to experience delays in refund receipt due to a poorly-completed return.  One online commenter remarks, “For a speedy return, make sure to double check all information provided when filing on paper. Filing the wrong status, using sloppy handwriting or the wrong math can seriously delay your refund”.

Luckily, it’s not that tough to find out what’s going on with your refund.  The IRS website has a handy feature, “Where’s My Refund,” that allows you to determine exactly what’s going on with your dough.  It’s pretty easy to use.  In order access your status, you’ll need your Social Security Number, the exact whole-dollar refund amount shown on your return, and your filing status.

A few keystrokes and mouseclicks later, and you’ll know if your refund has been mailed, if it’s waiting to be mailed, or if there’s something else afoot.