How long does it take for tax refunds to arrive after approval? Could it come earlier than the date shown?

In my experience working with tax returns, the IRS tends to be pretty accurate with their deposit dates, but yes, sometimes refunds do come earlier than the projected date. The date they give you is more of a "no later than" estimate rather than an exact delivery date. It largely depends on your bank. Once the IRS releases the funds, your bank might process it immediately or hold it for 1-2 business days. Credit unions and online banks often make funds available faster than traditional banks. Also, weekends and holidays can affect processing times. If you see "approved" status, that's great news! It means the IRS has finished reviewing your return and has scheduled the payment. I would say there's a decent chance you might see it 1-2 days earlier than the listed date, but I wouldn't count on it being much sooner than that.

I want to share my experience with tax refund timing because I was in a similar situation. Last year I was obsessively checking the IRS Where's My Refund tool and saw my refund was approved with a deposit date of March 12th. I was actually pleasantly surprised when the money showed up in my account on March 10th! I found this awesome tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me understand the whole tax refund process much better. It analyzes tax documents and gives you a really clear timeline of what to expect. It also explains all the status updates from the IRS in plain English, which was super helpful because I kept freaking out about what each status meant. The tool even has a refund tracker that gives you more specific predictions than the IRS website. It was pretty accurate for me and helped me stop obsessively checking my bank account every hour!

Ok so I tried that taxr.ai site that @Profile5 mentioned and I'm actually really impressed! I was super skeptical (as you can see from my earlier comment lol) but decided to give it a shot since I was going crazy checking my refund status every 5 minutes. The site asked for basic info about my refund status and gave me a much more detailed timeline than the IRS site. It actually predicted I'd get my refund 2 days before the official date the IRS gave me, and it was right! Money hit my account this morning even though the IRS said it wouldn't come until Friday. The explanation of all the weird tax statuses was super helpful too. Like I had no idea what "refund approved" vs "refund sent" actually meant in terms of timing. Would definitely recommend if you're anxiously waiting for your money like I was!

For anyone struggling to get through to the IRS about refund delays, I highly recommend trying Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had an issue last year where my refund was approved but then went into review for some reason, and the date disappeared completely from the tracker. I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS phone lines - kept getting disconnected or told to call back later. It was infuriating. Then I found Claimyr and it literally saved my sanity. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone tree for you and calls you back when they have an agent on the line. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Once I finally got to speak to a real person at the IRS, they were able to tell me exactly what was happening with my refund (there was a small error they needed to verify) and gave me an updated timeline. Totally worth it instead of spending hours on hold.

I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was so frustrated with waiting that I decided to try it anyway. I'd been trying to reach the IRS for THREE WEEKS about my refund that was supposed to come in January but never showed up. The service actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 45 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. Turns out there was a discrepancy with my W-2 that I needed to address. The agent was able to fix it right then and reprocess my refund. My refund is now scheduled to arrive next week. Without getting through to someone, I probably would have been waiting for months. I've never been happier to admit I was wrong about something!

In my experience, refund dates are pretty accurate but I've gotten mine a day early a few times. Banks like Chime and Capital One sometimes release funds as soon as they get the notification rather than waiting for the official settlement date. Also, if your refund includes pandemic-related credits or earned income credit, those sometimes take longer to process regardless of what the refund tracker says. The IRS is supposed to be caught up now though.

Anybody using TurboTax to check refund status? The app keeps showing different info than the IRS website and its making me nervous. IRS says my refund is approved but TurboTax still says "return received"??

I can share my recent experience! My refund was approved last month with a deposit date of January 15th, and it actually showed up in my account on January 13th - two days early! I bank with a local credit union, and they seem to process ACH deposits pretty quickly. From what I've noticed over the years, the IRS date is more of a "by this date" guarantee rather than an exact arrival time. Once they release the funds to your bank, it really depends on how fast your financial institution processes incoming transfers. Some banks hold them until the official date, while others make them available immediately. Since you're already seeing "approved" status, you're in great shape! I'd say there's a decent chance you could see it a day or two before February 23rd, but I wouldn't stress too much if it comes exactly on that date. The important thing is that it's been approved and is on its way to you. Good luck with those bills!