Refund tracker
Pick your return and the day you mailed it. We date each step the way the IRS and your state describe their waits for a paper return, and show what each refund tracker asks for.
Mailed March 1, 2027
Send it by Certified Mail: the receipt proves the date.
The IRS says the status of a paper return shows 4 weeks after you file it.
The IRS says a mailed return's refund takes 6 or more weeks from the date it receives the return.
F1TaxReturn isn't part of the IRS or any state, and can't see your refund. Every wait above is the agency's own published figure; where an agency publishes none, we give no date.
Five trackers
The IRS and each state pay their own refunds, so each has its own tracker. Here is what each one asks for and how long each agency says a paper return takes.
Where's My Refund? · irs.gov
It asks for
How long
Your refund line
Form 1040-NR, line 35a (2025 forms)
Where's My Refund? · ftb.ca.gov
It asks for
How long
Your refund line
Form 540NR, line 103 (2025 forms)
Check Your Refund Status · tax.ny.gov
It asks for
How long
Your refund line
Form IT-203, line 68; Form IT-201, line 78 (2025 forms)
Where's My Refund? · mytax.illinois.gov
It asks for
How long
Your refund line
Form IL-1040, line 38 (2025 forms)
Where's My Refund? · mtc.dor.state.ma.us
It asks for
How long
Your refund line
Form 1-NR/PY, line 58; Form 1, line 54 (2025 forms)
The IRS says a mailed return's refund takes 6 or more weeks from the date it receives the return. The status shows in Where's My Refund? 4 weeks after you file a paper return. For a refund of tax withheld on a Form 1042-S, the Form 1040-NR instructions say to allow up to 6 months.
Your Social Security number or ITIN, your filing status and the exact whole-dollar refund on your return. On the 2025 Form 1040-NR the refund is line 35a. The filing status is the box ticked on page 1: Single, for an unmarried student.
Yes. The Form 1040-NR instructions send you to IRS.gov/Refunds to check on your refund. They also list the IRS's app and its automated refund line, 800-829-1954. Each state refund has its own tracker; the IRS one shows only your federal refund.
Once more than 6 weeks have passed since you mailed your paper return. Before then IRS phone staff can't research it. Where's My Refund? updates once a day, usually at night, so checking more often shows nothing new.
Keep a US bank account in your name open until the refund arrives. The IRS has generally stopped mailing paper refund checks. If your return has no valid bank details, the refund is held and the IRS mails you a CP53E notice: you have 30 days to add a bank account in your IRS Online Account, and if you don't, a paper check follows after about six weeks.
Yes, when it takes more than 45 days. The 45 days count from the due date or from the day the IRS receives your return, whichever is later (Internal Revenue Code section 6611).
No. We can't see your refund status: only the IRS and your state can tell you where it is. This page dates each step from what the agencies publish. If you filed with F1TaxReturn, the refund tracker in your dashboard fills in every box but your SSN from your return, and emails you when it's time to check.
File with F1TaxReturn and your dashboard tracks each refund: the exact amount from your return, a copy button beside every box, and an email when it's time to check. Your federal return is free.
