How quickly did you get your tax refund (paper check)?

Drez

I'm just curious if anyone else:

a) Got their tax refund,
b) Got it via paper check, and
c) Tracked it beforehand.

My status:

Refund Status Results

Your tax refund is scheduled to be mailed on February 16, 2010. If you do not receive the refund by March 16, 2010, please contact us again. We are unable to take any action until then.

In the continental US, first class mail is supposed to be a guaranteed 2-3 days, so I am hoping to get the check by Friday if they mailed it today. I'm just curious if anyone else has any experience with the IRS's posted mailing estimations and when they actually got their check. Did it seem accurate to you? Was it a few days after their expected mailing date?

Thanks.

joshofalltrades

It has been a while since I did the paper thing with the IRS, but they are usually very conservative on their estimates

Don't, you know, max out all your credit cards or anything, but generally you can expect things to happen a bit faster than they say

Drez

joshofalltrades wrote: »

It has been a while since I did the paper thing with the IRS, but they are usually very conservative on their estimates

Don't, you know, max out all your credit cards or anything, but generally you can expect things to happen a bit faster than they say

*goes to check his mailbox*

:P

edit: No check.

Well anyway, good to hear that, josh. I don't really care toooo much but mail has a habit of getting lost around here so I want to keep an eye out. And of course the sooner I get the check the sooner I can spend it on video games and strippers.

Thanatos

For the future, Direct Deposit is way faster.

Drez

Thanatos wrote: »

For the future, Direct Deposit is way faster.

I know. Should have done it.

Shogun

If you mail your refund in and choose a paper check it can take ages to get that money back. File online + DD = Money back in roughly two weeks.

WildEEP

Checkin status online:

https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp

Dates for Paper Check Arrival vs Direct Deposit and the like:

http://www.efile.com/tax-refund/where-is-my-refund/


- These were all pretty accurate for mine.

SkyCaptain

I had to file by paper this year. Damned changes to the homebuyer's credit cause of all the fraud.

KidDynamite

Yeah, no joke. I was all excited to TurboTax and have my Obama money on the quick. Got to the checkout and they're all like "you have to mail a paper copy in"

I seriously had to research how to do that. I've used turbotax since like ever.

I mailed it Monday, so I'm hoping 3-4 weeks I'll have it. It'll be kinda cool if I forget about it and then check my account.

agalpert09

Drez, I have an interesting theory based on Wildeep's link to the efile site (http://www.efile.com/tax-refund/where-is-my-refund/). On that page, it says:

"The dates below are estimated IRS dates on which you can expect your refund from the IRS through either direct bank deposit or paper check in the mail."

So, according to that wording, even paper checks should be received by around that date, even on that date in some cases. Certainly it shouldn't take a couple of weeks. I wondered the same thing, and just figured it out. The IRS' wording is very vague, because "mailed on" could either mean you recieve it then, or it's mailed OUT then. With my situation, I entered mismatching routing # information when I e-filed, so it had to be mailed. Mine is scheduled to be "mailed" by tomorrow, but I have doubts that I'll actually receive it tomorrow. I hope you get yours soon.

Tejs

Just got my tax return back. Filed Feb 1st.

[edit] E-filed through TurboTax and was written a check.

Naa

I overnighted my paperwork 1/21/10 so they should of gotten it 1/22/10. Had to paper file due to first time home buyers but choose direct deposit (I normally eFile).

I checked the status of my return Tuesday 2/16/10 (cause they make you wait 3 weeks before you can even check status) and it said by 3/16/10.

I checked again this morning and now it's saying 3/23/10