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Tax refund calendar, week by week

For each week of acceptance, the date a refund usually arrives, with and without the earned income credit.

Your expected refund date

Refund expected around

February 22, 2027

21 days after acceptance on February 1, 2027

  • Rule appliedabout 21 days after e-file acceptance
  • Where's My Refund shows a status fromFebruary 2, 2027
  • Seasonprojection: the IRS announces the 2027 opening in January

Most refunds come within 21 days of an accepted e-file; a return pulled for review, an offset for a past-due debt or an identity check takes longer.

How this is calculated

This calendar turns the IRS timing rules into dates. For a return e-filed and accepted in a given week, with direct deposit and no problem, the refund usually arrives about 21 days later, the delay the IRS gives for most refunds. Returns that claim the earned income credit or the additional child tax credit follow a different column: no refund before mid-February under the PATH Act, and in the 2026 season, the IRS expected most of them in accounts by March 2, 2026. The 2026 season opened on January 26, 2026, so a return accepted that week pointed to about February 16, 2026 without those credits and to March 2, 2026 with them. Paper returns are not in the table: count six weeks or more from the date the IRS receives them. For the 2027 season, which will handle 2026 returns, the IRS has not announced the opening day; the second table projects dates from the same rules and must be read as an estimate.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate

2026 season (2025 returns), e-file with direct deposit

Season opened January 26, 2026; EITC and ACTC refunds expected by March 2, 2026 (IRS)
Return acceptedWithout EITC or ACTCWith EITC or ACTC
January 26, 2026February 16, 2026March 2, 2026
February 2, 2026February 23, 2026March 2, 2026
February 9, 2026March 2, 2026March 2, 2026
February 16, 2026March 9, 2026March 9, 2026
February 23, 2026March 16, 2026March 16, 2026
March 2, 2026March 23, 2026March 23, 2026
March 9, 2026March 30, 2026March 30, 2026
March 16, 2026April 6, 2026April 6, 2026
March 23, 2026April 13, 2026April 13, 2026
March 30, 2026April 20, 2026April 20, 2026
April 6, 2026April 27, 2026April 27, 2026
April 13, 2026May 4, 2026May 4, 2026

2027 season (2026 returns): projection

Projection from the 21-day rule and the mid-February hold; the IRS has not announced the 2027 dates
Return acceptedWithout EITC or ACTCWith EITC or ACTC
January 25, 2027February 15, 2027March 2, 2027
February 1, 2027February 22, 2027March 2, 2027
February 8, 2027March 1, 2027March 2, 2027
February 15, 2027March 8, 2027March 8, 2027
March 1, 2027March 22, 2027March 22, 2027
March 15, 2027April 5, 2027April 5, 2027
April 5, 2027April 26, 2027April 26, 2027
April 15, 2027May 6, 2027May 6, 2027

The dates assume an accepted e-file, direct deposit and no review. They are a typical outcome, not a promise: the IRS says some returns need more time. A return accepted the day the season opens is not processed faster than one accepted a week later if both claim the earned income credit, because both wait for the same release date.

Reading the calendar for paper returns and checks

For a paper return, add six weeks or more to the date the IRS receives it, not the date you mailed it, and expect the tracker to show nothing for about four weeks. If you did not give a bank account, the IRS may still mail a check, which adds several days to weeks; under Executive Order 14247 it has been phasing out paper refund checks since September 30, 2025. The refund schedule calculator handles both cases, and the refund timing guide explains what each status in the tracker means.

Sources: IRS: Where's my refund? Status timing and when to expect a refund; IRS: the 2026 filing season opens (21-day refunds, EITC and ACTC refunds by March 2, paper checks phased out); IRS IR-2026-02: January 26, 2026 opening of the 2026 filing season, read on October 11, 2026.

Questions taxpayers ask

If I file the first week of the season, when do I get my refund?

In 2026 the season opened on January 26, 2026. A return accepted that day, e-filed with direct deposit and without the EITC or ACTC, pointed to about February 16, 2026. With either credit, the refund waited for the mid-February release and was expected by March 2, 2026. Filing early helps mostly if your return has no credits held by law.

Is there an official IRS refund calendar by filing date?

No. The IRS gives rules, not a calendar: most e-filed refunds within 21 days, paper returns in six weeks or more, and the yearly date for EITC and ACTC refunds. Calendars online, this one included, apply those rules to filing dates. Your own date appears in Where's My Refund once the return is approved.

When will 2027 EITC refunds arrive?

The IRS publishes that date during each filing season; for 2026 it was March 2, 2026. The PATH Act hold until mid-February will apply again in 2027, so the projection in the table places those refunds in early March, on the same pattern. Treat it as an estimate until the IRS announces the 2027 date.

Next numbers to check

IRS refund schedule

The date your refund should arrive, from the day the IRS accepts your return.

When will I get my refund

The timeline of a refund, what each tracker status means and the usual causes of delay.

Refund estimator

Wages, withholding, children and the new deductions in; refund or balance due out.

Earned income credit

The 2026 EITC by number of children: maximum, plateau and phase-out, computed for you.

Tax deadlines

Every federal deadline from now to April 2027, and what missing one costs.

IRS documents and statute behind this page

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Publisher of the federal tax-year calculators (brackets, deductions, refunds, contribution limits)

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Estimate only: these figures apply the amounts the IRS publishes to the numbers you enter. They are not tax advice, and the return the IRS processes is the one that counts.

Federal tax figures for 2026, compared with IRS documents on