CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Income taxes were due on Monday, April 15. You either owed, or you got some money back. And while Monday was the deadline to file your income taxes, many people who filed early say they still haven't received their refund.
The IRS said most refunds are issued in less than 21 days, but some people claim they've waited longer. Some people who filed as early as possible said they're still waiting on the IRS to process and issue their refunds.
It's also true for people who are waiting on their state tax refund.
VERIFY viewer Ann M. asked about that process, wanting to know how long it takes for North Carolina to process tax returns.
"How long does it take to get your North Carolina state refund? I sent mine in early March and haven't gotten it yet," she wrote.
OUR SOURCES
WHAT WE FOUND
According to the IRS, 101 million people have received their federal refunds as of Friday. That's almost 1% more than this time last year.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina Department of Revenue said they started issuing tax refunds on March 18. Since then, they have issued 820,000 refunds for e-filed returns. According to NCDOR, the processing time may take longer because additional reviews have been put in place to protect people from refund fraud.
"All the federal and state agencies are stepping up their game," Steber said.
With more technology in place on both the state and federal levels, Steber said there could be a few reasons why you haven't seen your refund.
"If you snag yourself, or got close but not entirely accurate on your IRS data, or if you are in one of the fraud filters that might be in a data breach somewhere, the IRS may be taking longer to make sure," Steber explained.
There are ways to keep track of your refund. Both the IRS and NCDOR have tracking systems so you can see what stage your refund is in and when you can expect to get it.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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