If you haven’t filed your tax return yet, we have some advice to help you get your tax refund money as quickly as possible. It’s a quick step that you don’t want to miss when filing your taxes this year.
It takes only a few extra minutes, and you’ll get your refund within 21 days on average if you follow the tips, instead of the four or more weeks if you don’t. (Here’s another way to get your tax refund up to five days sooner.)
We’ll explain the benefits of setting up direct deposit and electronic filing with the IRS to get your refund faster and how to do it. For more details, here’s why you may want to wait to file your taxes.
First, file electronically
You can expect a quicker refund if you combine direct deposit with electronic filing, rather than printing out and mailing in paper tax returns. The IRS is asking taxpayers to avoid filing paper returns, if possible, and instead e-file. Filing your return the old-school way could cause another processing delay. Filing your tax return closer to the beginning of tax season rather than closer to the deadline will also set you up to get your tax return faster.
To file electronically you can either use the IRS’ Free File service that, if you qualify, lets you file your tax return for free. Our picks for best tax apps this year also let you file electronically.
Second, direct deposit will get your tax refund faster
When you file your taxes, you usually have the option to add a bank account so you can receive your refund through direct deposit. “The best and fastest way to get your tax refund is to have it electronically deposited for free into your financial account,” the IRS says. You can have your money deposited in up to three different accounts if you’d like to split up your tax refund.
In fact, the IRS recommends setting up direct deposit to avoid any delays with your refund. The average time it takes to get tax refunds back for those who filed electronically with direct deposit is less than 21 days, according to the IRS.
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Get your money quicker with direct deposit.
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Get your money quicker with direct deposit.
Direct deposit saves the government money and paper
Each paper refund check issued costs US taxpayers more than $1, but it costs only a dime for each direct deposit made, according to the IRS. By December 2023, over 105 million refunds were issued, with over 9 million sent by mail.
That means in 2023, it cost taxpayers over $9 million for paper check refunds to be sent out and roughly $9.6 million for direct deposit.
Direct deposit lets you send your tax refund to multiple accounts
If you’d like to have your tax refund spread out across several accounts, now’s the time to do that. When setting up direct deposit on your taxes, you can add up to three different bank accounts, which can be beneficial if you’re using one as a savings account.
Note that you can’t add more than three accounts. If you do, you will receive a notice from the IRS and a paper check.
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Direct deposit is cheaper than receiving a check.
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