If you have contacted your bank/financial institution and two weeks have passed with no results, you will need to file Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund, to initiate a trace. This allows the IRS to contact the bank on your behalf to attempt recovery of your refund. Banks are allowed up to 90 days from the date of the initial trace input to respond to our request for information. You can also call the IRS tax refund hotline at 800-829-4477, Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
NOTE: If you did incorrectly enter an account or routing number that belongs to someone else and your designated bank/financial institution accepts the deposit. You must work directly with them to recover your funds.
If funds aren't available or the bank refuses to return the funds, the IRS cannot compel the bank to do so. The case may then become a civil matter between you and your bank/financial institution and/or the owner of the account into which the funds were deposited.
