With the depressed economy and high unemployment, you can be sure taxpayers will want their tax refund as soon as possible. But where do you go to check the status of your income tax refund? The IRS webpage Where’s my refund is the place to check the status of your federal income tax refund.

Information about the status of your tax refund is generally available 72 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of your e-file return, or 3 – 4 weeks after mailing a paper return.

This tax help service requires you to provide the following information from your tax return:

• Your Social Security Number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number)
• Your Filing Status
• The exact whole dollar amount of your refund<

One very important note about getting the status of your income tax refund is that if you’re affected by recently reinstated tax breaks and you already filed your tax return, it will be processed beginning Monday, February 14, 2011. For more information regarding the delay in processing tax returns due to the tax law changes, check the IRS news bulletin at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=234736,00.html.

And always remember, the IRS never initiates email. So avoid the e-mail scams and offers of tax help by deleting them from your computer. The IRS will always contact you via U.S. mail.

For more tax help visit the IRS website.

The good news is, if you filed your income tax return using e-file, you will know the status of your tax refund in as little as 3 days.

source: irs.gov