The IRS says generally, 21 days. But I stress *GENERALLY*. If a return is complex, it can take longer.
You must keep in mind also, that just because the IRS has accepted your e-filed return, does not in any way mean they agree with it. I've heard cases where six weeks go by after it shows a status of "accepted", without any change or even a notification of a refund pay date. THen when the tax filer gets the IRS letter in the mail asking for more information, it all makes sense. They provide the information requested by the IRS, and then generally another 4 weeks after the IRS as physically received the information requested, they finally get their refund. So there is absolutely no way to know definitely when a tax filer will get their refund, or if they will actually ever receive their refund. There are cases where a refund was expected, but the IRS did not agree with the tax return as filed. Then after making changes the tax filer ended up owing the IRS. This usually happens when a tax filer does not report "all" of their income for whatever reason.
