According to the IRS, approximately 90% of tax refunds are issued in under 21 days. However, some tax returns require more attention, which can lengthen the process and push back your tax refund date.
The deadline for filing 2023 taxes is Monday April 15, 2024. If you request an extension, the deadline is Tuesday October 15, 2024. Keep reading to learn more about deadlines for 2023 tax returns, and how to track the progress of your tax refund.
Tax Refund Process, Explained
The process begins when you submit your return to the IRS. The IRS then breaks down the process into three steps: return received, refund approved, and refund sent.
If you file electronically, you should receive an email confirming that your return was received within 24 hours. Paper return filers will have to wait longer.
After the IRS processes your return and confirms the information, your refund will be approved and a tax refund date will be issued. This takes about 3 weeks for electronic filers. Taxpayers who file a paper return by mail will wait at least four weeks.
The last step is when your tax refund is sent out. For filers who provide direct deposit information, your refund should appear in your account almost immediately. Taxpayers who do not include their bank information will have to wait for a paper check to arrive by mail.
Factors Impacting How Long a Tax Refund Takes
Several factors can affect the timing of your tax refund — including your financial organization skills and the accuracy of the information you provide. If you don’t receive your tax refund within 21 days, your return is likely being manually reviewed due to a mistake or complication.
The following factors can also affect your 2023 tax refund date.
How Early You File
Filing early is essential if you want to get your tax refund early. Ideally, you should be able to compile all your tax documents by the end of January. Forms such as W-2s, 1099-Rs, 1098-Es, and 1098s will provide the income information you need to file.
Filing early means submitting your tax return before the official deadline of Monday April 15, 2024, for your 2023 tax return. Since many taxpayers file their returns on the official deadline, filing early allows you to beat the rush.
Similarly, if you requested an extension, filing “early” means before the October deadline. The deadline for 2023 returns is Tuesday October 15, 2024. However, taxpayers can file anytime before October. This way, you’ll avoid the bottleneck that inevitably occurs on the deadline itself.
If You Are Claiming Certain Credits
Claiming certain credits on your tax return can push back your 2023 tax refund date. These include:
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Additional Child Tax Credit
- Injured Spouse Allocation
- Child Tax Credit, if you claim the wrong amount
E-filed or Sent By Mail
Whether you do your own taxes by hand, use software to assist you, or hire an accountant or tax preparer, it’s best to opt for electronic filing. E-filed taxes are accepted by the IRS within a day or two, while mailed paper returns can take weeks to arrive.
Existing Government Debt
Some taxpayers owe the federal or state government due to unpaid child support, taxes from years past, or student loan payments. Taxpayers facing these issues will receive a reduced refund or none at all, and any refund can take longer than the standard 21-day timeframe after e-filing.
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How to Track the Progress of Your Refund
If you’re like most taxpayers, it won’t take long until you start wondering where their tax refund is. Getting hold of a live IRS representative by phone is possible but challenging during tax season.
Fortunately, the IRS’s Refund Status tool provides updates on your 2024 tax refund date just 24 hours after you submit your 2023 taxes electronically.
The tool shows taxpayers one of three statuses: return received, refund approved, or refund sent. After the refund is approved, the IRS will give you a tax refund date. If you mailed your return, you’ll have to wait about four weeks for the tool to provide information on your refund.
What to Do Once Your Refund Arrives
How should I spend my tax refund? It’s a perennial question for taxpayers. Top choices include paying down debt, saving for a vacation, and investing. The important thing is to plan ahead so you don’t spend it all on frivolous or impulsive purchases.
One popular option is to treat your refund like regular income. You can budget the majority of the money for “needs,” by setting up an emergency fund or paying down your mortgage. The rest can be set aside for “wants,” such as a year’s worth of dining out.
An online budget planner can help you decide the appropriate percentages for needs and wants. Likewise, a debt pay off planner can show you how much sooner you’ll be debt-free after depositing some or all of your refund.
What Happens If You Can’t File Income Taxes by the Deadline
Each year, taxpayers unable to file their return on time (usually mid April) can ask the IRS for an extension. The IRS’s Free File tool allows you to electronically submit a request to change your filing deadline to October.
Be aware that taxpayers who want an extension must make an educated guess about the taxes they owe and pay the IRS that amount.
How to File Form 4868 for a Tax Return Extension
Another way to file for an extension is to complete form 4868. You can submit the form electronically or by mail.
The Takeaway
While you cannot predict your exact tax refund date, filing electronically early in the tax season can help you get your refund faster. The IRS sends out most refunds within 21 days of receiving the return. The deadline for filing 2023 taxes is Monday April 15, 2024. If you request an extension, the deadline for filing a 2023 tax return is Tuesday October 15, 2024.
This article originally appeared on SoFi.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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States With The Highest (& Lowest) Average Student Debt In 2024
It can be hard to wrap your mind around the size of college student debts in America. When you’re talking about education-financing trends, the numbers are … huge. Exceeding $1.7 trillion as of January 2024.
How did this happen? Experts say that as it became more and more common to pursue a college degree, the federal government made accruing student loans fairly easy to do and tuition has skyrocketed since 1980. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data — as adjusted for inflation — confirms the average cost of tuition, fees, room, and board at U.S. colleges increased 166% over the last four decades using 2022 constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index.
These forces seem to have strengthened one another, leading to what some describe as a crisis. Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category in the nation, according to TransUnion®. It is second to mortgage debt and ranks higher than credit card or auto loan debt.
In August 2022, President Joe Biden said that over time “an entire generation is now saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for an attempt, at least, at a college degree. The burden is so heavy that even if you graduate, you may not have access to the middle-class life that the college degree once provided.”
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According to the latest statistics, over 40 million Americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. The vast majority of this debt is made up of federal loans.
In March 2020, a pause was put on payments on federal student loans due to hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal student loan pause ended in the autumn of 2023 as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
The three-year-long pause included the following relief measures for eligible loans:
- a suspension of loan payments
- a 0% interest rate
- stopped collections on defaulted loans
The payment pause freed up cash in the budgets of millions of Americans. But the pause also cost the federal government more than $100 billion.As part of the debt ceiling bill negotiated by President Biden and Congress, student loan interest accrual resumed on Sept. 1, 2023, and required payments resumed in October.
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The average student loan debt in the U.S. is about $35,000 per borrower, according to TransUnion. In general, it can take 10 years or longer to repay your student loans.Here are the states with the highest overall federal student debt balances as of June 30, 2023:
1. California
Balance (in billions): $149
Borrowers (in thousands): 3,985.7
Average Balance: $37,384
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Balance (in billions): $127.2
Borrowers (in thousands): 3,183.6
Average Balance: $33,354
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Balance (in billions): $105.4
Borrowers (in thousands): 2,724.7
Average Balance: $38,683
Kasra Keighobady/istockphoto
Balance (in billions): $94.9
Borrowers (in thousands): 2,498.1
Average Balance: $37,989
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Balance (in billions): $70.6
Borrowers (in thousands): 1,690
Average Balance: $41,775
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Here are the states with the lowest overall federal student debt balances as of June 30, 2023:
1. Wyoming
Balance (in billions): $1.7
Borrowers (in thousands): 56
Average Balance: $30,357
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Balance (in billions): $2.4
Borrowers (in thousands): 68.7
Average Balance: $34,934
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Balance (in billions): $2.7
Borrowers (in thousands): 90
Average Balance: $30,000
DenisTangneyJr/istockphoto
Balance (in billions): $3
Borrowers (in thousands): 78.8
Average Balance: $38,071
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Balance (in billions): $3.8
Borrowers (in thousands): 119.7
Average Balance: $31,746
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The 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) found most student loan borrowers with outstanding debt owed less than $25,000 on their educational loans.
Students loan borrowers who completed an undergraduate program in 2018 owed the following amounts of education debt on average, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS) data:
- Undergraduate certificate recipients owed an average of $14,800
- Associate degree recipients owed an average of $20,900
- Bachelor’s degree recipients owed an average of $27,500
Once students graduate, drop below half-time enrollment, or leave school, their federal student loan goes into repayment. However, if they have a Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, or Federal Family Education Loan, they have a six-month grace period before being required to start making regular payments. They’ll have a nine-month grace period if they’ve got a Perkins Loan.
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When you scrutinize the student debt average for graduate school, the amount can be staggering. Student loan borrowers who completed a graduate program in 2018 owed the following amounts of education debt on average, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS) data:
- Master’s degree recipients owed an average of $71,800
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and similar research-driven doctoral degree recipients owed an average of $112,400
- Professional practice doctoral degree recipients (such as medical doctors and law school graduates) owed an average of $185,100
In almost all cases, graduate or professional students are considered independent students for the purposes of completing their FAFSA® form for grad school. This means graduate students generally are not required to provide parent information.
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Unless you qualify for student loan forgiveness, borrowers are expected to pay off student debt over time. The way it begins: your loan servicer will provide you with a loan repayment schedule that states when your first payment is due, the number and frequency of payments, and the amount of each payment.
Your billing statement will tell you how much to pay. Your monthly payment amount depends on your repayment plan. If you signed up for electronic communication, pay attention to your email. Most loan servicers send an email when your billing statement is ready for you to access online.
On its Federal Student Aid website, the U.S. Department of Education issues the following statement: “REMEMBER: Your federal student loans can’t be canceled or forgiven because you didn’t get the education or job you expected or you didn’t complete your education (unless you couldn’t complete your education because your school closed).”
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To pursue new interest rates and flexibility in repayment time frames, some people choose to refinance their federal student loans with a private loan servicer. You may pay more interest over the life of the loan if you refinance with an extended term.
By comparing student loan refinance rates, loan holders can choose a deal that works for them. The private company pays off the federal loan and begins a new loan with the customer.
There are pros and cons to refinancing. By doing so, private loan holders lose out on some benefits available to those with federal student loans. Those include:
- Losing access to the government’s SAVE program for federal student loans, an income-driven repayment plan that can significantly decrease your monthly payment amount compared to all other government repayment plans.
- No interest accumulation on subsidized student loans during periods when payments are deferred
- Access to repayment plans based on your income that provide loan forgiveness once you have been in repayment for 20 or 25 years (or earlier for some SAVE Plan enrollees)
- Access to various forms of loan forgiveness and discharge, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Teacher Loan Forgiveness, total and permanent disability discharge, and borrower defense to repayment discharge
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The nation’s student debt has grown in recent years, with the average student borrowing $35,000 to pursue a college education. When it comes to grad school, the average PhD candidate can rack up well above $100K in student debt.
What this has led to: student loan debt now ranks as the second highest consumer debt category in the nation, second only to mortgage debt.
Holders of federal student loans could be interested in refinancing loans. However, they must bear in mind that refinancing means that loan is no longer eligible for federal forgiveness or income-driven repayment. You may pay more interest over the life of the loan if you refinance with an extended term.
This article originally appeared on SoFi.comand was syndicated byMediaFeed.org.
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NOTICE: The debt ceiling legislation passed on June 2, 2023, codifies into law that federal student loan borrowers will be reentering repayment. The US Department of Education or your student loan servicer, or lender if you have FFEL loans, will notify you directly when your payments will resume For more information, please go to https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20230529/BILLS-118hrPIH-fiscalresponsibility.pdf https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19
If you are a federal student loan borrower considering refinancing, you should take into account the new income-driven payment plan, SAVE, which replaces REPAYE, seeks to make monthly payments more affordable, and offers forgiveness of balances that were originally $12,000 or lower after 120 payments, among other improvements. Also, please note that once you refinance federal student loans you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to federal loan borrowers, including but not limited to income-based repayment plans, such as SAVE, or extended repayment plans.
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