You should get an email that your return was accepted within 24-48 hours. It takes about 21 days before your return is processed, after that you should receive a date on when your refund will be sent to your bank if you did direct deposit. You check your status 24 hours a day , it is updated daily at https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp