A Few Words About Your Refund ...

The IRS has alerted taxpayers and preparers that it is experiencing high traffic on its Where's My Refund webpage, as more tax returns come in. The heavy volume of refund inquiries means that the IRS anticipates both that both the Where's My Refund? page on IRS.gov and the refund feature on the IRS2go phone app will have limited availability during busier periods.

Due to the large number of inquiries and to avoid service disruptions, the IRS strongly urges taxpayers to only check on their refunds once a day. IRS systems are only updated once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available whether on the internet, IRS2go smartphone app or on IRS toll-free lines. While Where's My Refund is updated nightly, your account will not change that frequently.

The IRS is seeing a good start to the filing season, and tax refunds are being issued timely. Nine out of 10 taxpayers typically receive refunds in less than 21 days when they use e-file with direct deposit.

The IRS expects to see the number of tax returns -- and related refund inquiries -- steadily increase around the President's Day holiday week.

Here are some tips to help you with your refund questions:

• Have the right tax information ready before using any of the IRS refund tools. This includes Social Security number, filing status and refund amount.
• You don't need to check Where's My Refund more than once a day as your information will not change.
• To avoid system delays, the best time to check on refunds is evening and weekends.
• There is no need to call the IRS about your refund; the telephone service has the same information that is available on Where's My Refund.