Not everyone expects a refund, but for those clients who do, “How long will it take to get my refund?”, has to be one of the most common questions I receive this time of year. The general short answer is “about two weeks if you are doing direct deposit and double that if you prefer a paper check”. This estimate is based on prior experience and some historical data from the IRS. The Massachusetts DOR generally pays refunds along the same timeline, but of course, some taxpayers get their refunds faster or slower than that general rule.

I personally believe that the closer you get to April 15^th the longer it takes the IRS to process your return and pay out a refund. After all, we are a nation of procrastinators. According to data from the Internal Revenue Service for 2016, about 14 percent of all tax returns were filed in the last week before April 15^th. In some ways, it is actually pretty impressive that the IRS can get through millions of tax returns as quickly as they do.