When To Expect Your Refund If You Claimed The Earned Income Tax ...

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When to expect your refund if you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit

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More In Credits & Deductions

• Family, dependents and students
  • Earned Income Tax Credit
    • EITC Qualification Assistant
    • Who qualifies for the EITC
    • Qualifying child or relative for the EITC
    • Earned income and credit tables
    • How to claim the EITC
    • When to expect your refund if you claimed the EITC or Additional Child Tax Credit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Educational credits
• Clean energy and vehicle credits and deductions
• Individuals credits and deductions
• Business credits and deductions

If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), you can expect to get your refund by March 2 if:

• You file your return online
• You choose to get your refund by direct deposit
• We found no issues with your return

However, some taxpayers may see their refunds a few days earlier. Check Where’s My Refund for your personalized refund date. Where's My Refund should show an updated status by February 21 for most early EITC/ACTC filers.

Additionally, your financial institution may need time to accept your direct deposit or issue a debit card. Many institutions don’t process payments on weekends or holidays. So, if you file early, be aware of federal and local holidays that may affect how soon you get your refund.

Why we hold your refund

By law, we can’t issue EITC or ACTC refunds before mid-February. This includes your entire refund, not just the part that’s related to the credit you claimed on your tax return.

If you claim the EITC or ACTC, we may need more information from you about your return. If we do, we will send you a letter.

How to track your refund

Check the status of your refund:

• Your Online Account
• Where's My Refund?
• IRS2Go app

We update these applications once a day, usually overnight. This means there's no need to check the status more often.

Resources

• Refunds

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 28-Jan-2026

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