Miami Accountants advise taxpayers that the “Where’s My Refund” system will take 24 hours to respond.

Miami Accountants are gearing up to kick off tax filing season on January 30 and the IRS has announced a new and improved version of its refund lookup tool, “Where’s My Refund?” If you e-file, you can get personalized refund information within 24 hours after the IRS receives your e-filed return–or four long weeks if you mail in a paper return. Yes, the IRS wants you to e-file.

You, or you Miami Accountants, can check on your refund on the IRS mobile app, IRS2Go, or on the IRS web page here (remember it won’t work until Jan. 30). You’ll need your social security number, your filing status (married, single, head of household), and the exact dollar amount of the refund you’re expecting. That’s all on your tax return.

Most taxpayers can get started on their returns now. Miami Accountants like Gustavo A Viera CPA will hold onto returns and electronically submit them when the IRS is officially open for business. The tax filing season was delayed for 8 days because of changes needed in response to the Jan. 2 tax law, the American Taxpayer Relief Act. Some taxpayers won’t be able to file until late February or March.

Where’s My Refund? includes a tracker that displays your refund’s progress through 3 stages: (1) Return Received, (2) Refund Approved, and (3) Refund Sent. You’ll get an actual refund date as soon as the IRS processes your tax return and approves your refund. Most refunds will be issued in less than 21 days. Last year, the IRS issued more than 9 out of 10 refunds to taxpayers in less than 21 days, and it expects the same results in 2013.

Note: Where’s My Refund? does not track amended returns (1040X), and it includes refund information for the most current tax year. So if you filed your 2012 tax return on January 30, 2013, and then filed your 2011 tax return on January 31, 2013, the information available on Where’s My Refund? will be for the 2012 tax return even though you filed your 2011 return after your 2012 return.

And hitting the refresh button over and over won’t get you the information any faster. The IRS system updates every 24 hours, usually overnight, so checking once a day will suffice.