Will I get my refund early for 2/25/26 if I paid fees with refund?

[xmasbaby0]

Using your federal refund to pay your TurboTax fees does not make your refund arrive early.   You will get your refund after it has been issued by the IRS AND after the third party bank has taken out your TurboTax fees and the refund processing fee of $40 ($45 in CA) and they send you the remaining refund.

TurboTax gives you an estimated date for receiving your refund based on a 21 day average from your date of acceptance, but it can take longer.  “21 days”  is not a promise from TurboTax or the IRS. 

First, check your e-file status to see if your return was accepted: 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/efile-status-lookup/

Once your federal return has been accepted by the IRS, only the IRS has any control.  TurboTax does not receive any updates from the IRS. Your ONLY source of information about your refund now is the IRS.

You need your filing status, your Social Security number and the exact amount  (line 35a of your 2025 Form 1040) of your federal refund to track your Federal refund:   

https://www.irs.gov/refunds

To track your state refund:    

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/track-state-refund/L3jgO8PGs_...

If you chose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your federal refund, that will take some extra time, while the third party bank handles the refund processing

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refunds-take-longer-others/L1...

.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/irs-refund-taking-longer-21-d...

If you are getting earned income credit on line 27 or additional child tax credit on line 28 You are subject to the delay required by the PATH act.  Do not expect your refund before early March

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/internal-revenue-service/federal-refunds...

Note:  “Accepted” is not the same as “approved”.  TurboTax tells you the e-file was accepted if the IRS deems that there is enough information on the return for them to take it in for processing.   Only the IRS can approve of the refund, which is a later stage of processing.  If the IRS approves your refund they will provide a date for the refund to be issued.

FROM THE IRS WHERE’S MY REFUND SITE:

https://www.irs.gov/wheres-my-refund

How it works

Where's My Refund shows your refund status:

• Return Received – We received your return and are processing it.
• Refund Approved – We approved your refund and are preparing to issue it by the date shown.
• Refund Sent – We sent the refund to your bank or to you in the mail. It may take 5 days for it to show in your bank account or several weeks for your check to arrive in the mail.

[LaShaunA3]

Once your return is filed, TurboTax has no control over the processing or the timing when the IRS releases your refund. 

But, if you signed up for the 5 Day Early product, you should receive your refund deposited 5 days prior to the date indicated by the IRS, assuming all conditions are met. 

 If you don't get your deposit 5 days early, there's a few reasons why that might happen. 

• Your refund was offset or differed from their estimated refund amount, bringing the refund amount below the minimum threshold or above the maximum.
• Your bank wouldn't accept RTP (Real Time Payments) or Same Day ACH deposits, preventing Intuit from depositing your refund 5 days ahead of when the IRS would have deposited your refund. 
• The IRS didn't give Intuit 5 or more days of notice in advance. This stopped Intuit from meeting the 5 days early expectations. 

If TurboTax is unable to deliver the refund 5 days early, your order will be canceled and you won't be charged the 5-Day Early fee.

You will receive a follow-up email with a refund and timing update, and if any cancellation is applicable.