Generally, if you file your return electronically, your refund will be processed in about one week. To reduce the risk of refund fraud, we're using various processes to validate tax refunds prior to issuance. These additional processes could delay the receipt of your refund. 

You can check the status of your refund in two ways:

• Online Lookup: Check the status of your tax refund online. You will need to enter your social security number, the tax year of the return you filed and the amount of the refund you are expecting.
• Phone Lookup: Call (804) 367-2486 to check the status of your refund 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will need to enter your social security number and the amount of the refund you are expecting.

If you filed your tax return on paper, your refund could take up to seven weeks to process. 

If you mailed your tax return using certified mail, it could take one to three weeks for us to receive your return from the U.S. Post Office. 

Other Reasons your Refund May Be Delayed

• Your refund could also be delayed if you requested your tax refund be deposited in your bank account, but we didn't receive an accurate bank account number. If the bank couldn't process the deposit, we will be notified, and we will manually re-issue your refund as a paper check. This process could take up to two weeks.
• If your refund was issued as a Virginia Tax Refund Debit Card, but the post office was unable to deliver the card to your address, the debit card will be returned to Xerox State and Local Solutions, Inc., as "undeliverable" mail. Please visit Xerox's Go ProgramŽ or call toll-free (855) 409-0580 for assistance.

Before issuing any tax refunds, we first verify you don't owe the Commonwealth of Virginia for any outstanding debts: 

• If you owe the Department of Taxation for previous tax years, we will withhold all or part of your tax refund and apply it to your outstanding tax bill. If this happens, we will send you a letter identifying the specific bill you owe and how much of your tax refund was applied.
• If you owe a debt to other state agencies in the commonwealth, Virginia local governments, the Virginia court system or the Internal Revenue Service, we will withhold all or part of any remaining tax refund to help pay these debts. If this happens, the specific agency will send you a letter identifying the debt you owe and how much of your refund was applied to the debt.
• If your refund is reduced to pay any debt owed to the commonwealth, you will be issued a refund check for the remaining balance. This check will be mailed to the most recent address provided on your tax return.