The IRS is taking 6 months and longer to process a mailed 2021 tax return. The IRS website for the status of a federal tax refund will not have the status until the IRS starts to process the federal tax return.
Go to this IRS website for the status of 2021 tax returns - https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations-during-covid-19-mission-critical-functions-continue
As of June 17, 2022, we had 11.2 million unprocessed individual returns which include returns received before 2022, and new tax year 2021 returns. Of these, 2 million returns require error correction or other special handling, and 9.2 million are paper returns waiting to be reviewed and processed. This work does not typically require us to correspond with taxpayers but does require special handling by an IRS employee so, in these instances, it is taking the IRS more than 21 days to issue any related refund and in some cases this work could take 90 to 120 days. If a correction is made to any Recovery Rebate Credit, Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit claimed on the return, the IRS will send taxpayers an explanation. Taxpayers are encouraged to continue to check Tax Season Refund Frequently Asked Questions.
