When Will the IRS Start Processing Child Tax Credit Returns?

The IRS began accepting 2025 tax year returns on January 26, 2026, but if your return claims the refundable Child Tax Credit, federal law blocks the IRS from releasing your refund until February 15 at the earliest.1Internal Revenue Service. Tax Year 2025 / Processing Year 2026 Form 1040 MeF Due Dates For most early filers who used direct deposit and submitted a clean return, that money should land in the bank by around March 2, 2026.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Opens 2026 Filing Season So the IRS is processing your return now; what it cannot do is pay you until the statutory hold lifts.

Why Your Refund Is Frozen Until February 15

Federal law prohibits the IRS from issuing any refund that includes the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit before February 15. The statute, 26 U.S.C. ยง 6402(m), bars any credit or refund of an overpayment from going out before the 15th day of the second month after the tax year closes when the return claims these credits.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6402 – Authority to Make Credits or Refunds Congress wrote this rule into the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act in December 2015 so the IRS could cross-check W-2s and 1099s against reported income before releasing refundable credit payments.

The hold freezes your entire refund, not just the slice tied to the ACTC. The portion coming from regular withholding gets held too. Neither the IRS nor the Taxpayer Advocate Service can release any piece of it early, even in cases of financial hardship.4Taxpayer Advocate Service. Held or Stopped Refunds This is where early filers get frustrated: you filed on day one, your return was accepted, and the money still sits for three weeks.

Keep in mind that acceptance is not approval. When tax software tells you the IRS accepted your return, that only confirms the data arrived without format errors. Processing and refund approval are separate steps that happen later.

What Triggers the Hold, and What Doesn’t

The hold kicks in when you claim the Additional Child Tax Credit on Schedule 8812. The ACTC is the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit, meaning it can produce a refund even if you owe zero federal income tax.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) (2025) If your Child Tax Credit exceeds your tax liability and you qualify for the ACTC, the excess gets paid to you, and the PATH Act hold applies.

If you only claim the nonrefundable portion of the CTC, because your tax bill is large enough to absorb the full credit, the hold does not apply. It also does not apply to returns that claim neither the ACTC nor the EITC. In those cases, standard refund timing applies: the IRS issues most refunds within 21 days of accepting an electronically filed return, and six or more weeks for paper returns.6Internal Revenue Service. Refunds

The 2026 Filing Season Timeline

Here are the dates that matter if you filed early and claimed the ACTC:

That March 2 estimate assumes you filed electronically, chose direct deposit, and your return had no errors or review flags. Paper returns add several more weeks. If you asked for a paper check instead of direct deposit, add mailing time on top of that.

What Can Delay You Past March 2

Even after the February 15 hold lifts, specific issues on a return can push the refund date out by weeks or months. The IRS will reject an e-filed return or issue a math error notice if the name and Social Security number for any qualifying child on Schedule 8812 don’t match Social Security Administration records.10Internal Revenue Service. Handling Processing Errors It’s the most common error flagged on child credit returns, usually a typo or a name that hasn’t been updated after a marriage or legal change.

A few other delays come up often:

  • Identity verification. If the IRS suspects potential identity theft, you’ll get a letter asking you to verify online or by phone. After you verify, it can still take up to nine additional weeks for the IRS to process the return and release the refund. Ignoring the notice is how a nine-week delay turns into a six-month one.11Internal Revenue Service. Verify Your Return
  • Duplicate dependent claims. If someone else, often an ex-spouse, already claimed the same child, the IRS flags both returns. Resolving it requires paper correspondence and can take months.
  • Missing SSN for the child. A child must have a valid Social Security number to qualify for the CTC or ACTC; an ITIN does not qualify. If the SSN application is still pending at filing time, you cannot claim the credit on that return. You would file without it and submit an amended return once the SSN is issued, a process that generally takes 8 to 12 weeks, and sometimes up to 16.12Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit 413Internal Revenue Service. Where’s My Amended Return
  • Schedule 8812 math errors. The ACTC calculation pulls figures from several lines on Form 1040. Tax software handles the arithmetic, but filers working on paper sometimes copy numbers across forms incorrectly.

How to Check Where Your Refund Actually Is

The IRS “Where’s My Refund?” tool is available on IRS.gov and through the IRS2Go mobile app.14Internal Revenue Service. Check the Status of a Refund in Just a Few Clicks Using the Where’s My Refund Tool You can check it 24 hours after e-filing.6Internal Revenue Service. Refunds The tool moves your return through three stages: Return Received, Refund Approved, and Refund Sent.

If you claimed the ACTC, expect “Return Received” with no further detail until after the hold lifts. For the 2026 season, Where’s My Refund began showing updated status for most early EITC/ACTC filers around February 21.9Internal Revenue Service. When to Expect Your Refund if You Claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit Before that date, calling the IRS won’t help. Representatives cannot override or speed up a PATH Act hold, and the phone system will tell you to check back later. If the tool does ask you to contact the IRS or verify your identity, follow through right away.

Pulling a Transcript for More Detail

If you want more granular information than Where’s My Refund gives you, request an account transcript through your IRS online account. The transcript shows transaction codes the IRS posts as your return moves through processing. The code to watch for is Transaction Code 846, which signals that a refund, plus any interest, has been approved and shows the date the IRS will release the payment to your bank. The deposit usually posts on that date, though some banks take an extra business day or two to make the funds available.

Transcripts aren’t necessary for most filers. But if your return has been stuck longer than expected and Where’s My Refund isn’t giving you useful information, the transcript can reveal whether the IRS has posted hold codes or adjustment codes that explain what’s going on.