I got my income taxes done a little early this year. I submitted the federal return electronically late on April 6 and mailed the state returns the next day. My federal refund has already arrived, it showed up in my bank account April 15. I was pleased of course but on reflection it could have been faster. It should be immediately clear to the IRS that the return is legitimate (because it matches the 1099s and W2s reported to the IRS and is similar to my return for 2013 including having the same address and bank information) so in principle my refund could have arrived in just a couple of days. However given the actual IRS system (which among other things appears to only issue refunds once a week) this was close to best case. And I guess cutting this time down shouldn't really be a top priority for the IRS.
The IRS is much quicker than New York and New Jersey. New York estimates 6 weeks and New Jersey 12 weeks which is consistent with my experience (except for New York in 2013 when I didn't get my refund until the end of August). We will see how it goes this year.
Incidentally I intended to drop off my state returns at the post office on my way to work but drove right by and was a couple of miles past before remembering and turning around. Not a big deal but it did leave me with a bit more understanding of how a parent could forget to drop a infant off at day care (as sometimes happens with tragic results).
Added May 1: Both of my state refunds arrived quicker than usual this year. My New Jersey refund check arrived in Wednesday's (4/29) mail and my New York refund check arrived in today's mail. I can only speculate as to why things were faster than usual this year. I have now filed several New Jersey returns maybe that reduces fraud concerns. Also perhaps the fact that both refunds were on the small side. Maybe filing a week early helped. And I suppose it is theoretically possible the states have become more efficient.
Raw data: A cautionary tale
4 hours ago
