Where's My Refund error messages: what each one means

Three kinds of Where's My Refund error

Not every Where's My Refund error is a problem with your refund. Some are input problems on your side, some are security blocks, and only one group comes from the IRS account itself. Sorting out which one you have tells you whether to retype, wait or call.

If you see no error at all, only a message that no information is available, that is a different situation covered in Where's My Refund status not available.

Where's My Refund says info doesn't match

The tool authenticates you with three shared secrets: your SSN or ITIN, your filing status and the refund amount in whole dollars. It rejects the lookup if any one of them differs from what the IRS has on file. IRS phone procedures tell assistors to handle these calls by confirming you are using the right three details, which tells you where most mismatches come from.

The usual culprits

• The refund figure came from a software summary screen or an estimate rather than the filed Form 1040. Use line 35a on the 2025 form.
• The refund changed after an IRS correction. If you received a CP12 notice, the old amount may no longer be the one the tool expects; read our CP12 notice page.
• Part of the overpayment was applied to next year's estimated tax, so line 34 and line 35a differ.
• The wrong tax year is selected in the drop-down.
• A preparer filed with a different filing status from the one you expected.

Fix one field at a time from a copy of the filed return, then try once. If it still fails, stop for the day rather than cycling through guesses.

Where's My Refund says too many attempts

A too-many-attempts message means the tool has temporarily stopped accepting lookups and wants you to come back later. The IRS does not publish the exact number of attempts allowed or the precise lockout length, so the safe approach is to wait a full 24 hours before checking again.

Checking more often gains nothing. The IRS updates refund status once a day, usually overnight, so one check per day shows everything there is to see. While you wait, the tax account transcript in your IRS online account is a separate system and can confirm whether the return has posted.

Where's My Refund error 428 and other three-digit numbers

The IRS does not list a reference code 428. Its refund reference codes, documented in the Internal Revenue Manual, are all four digits long. A three-digit number such as 428 or 429 in a browser or app is most likely a web status code from the connection itself, the kind of response a website sends when a request is refused or repeated too quickly.

1. Close the tab or app completely and wait at least a few hours.
2. Try a different browser, or switch between the website and the IRS2Go app.
3. Turn off VPNs and ad-blocking extensions for the IRS site.
4. If a three-digit error persists for more than a day on every device, treat it as a site outage and check again later. It says nothing about your refund.

IRS reference codes shown in the tool

Sometimes the tool shows a message asking you to take action, often with a four-digit reference number and a callback number. These codes come from the IRS account and are the one type of Where's My Refund error that usually means a real hold. Exhibit 21.4.1-3 of the Internal Revenue Manual lists the most common ones.

Offset codes split by who took the money. Code 1021 is a Bureau of the Fiscal Service offset for a non-tax debt, covered on our refund offset page. Codes 1081 and 1091 mean the IRS applied all or part of the refund to a federal tax debt, which the IRS explains in a CP49 notice.

When a Where's My Refund error means the IRS needs something

Input errors and lockouts rarely need an IRS call. A reference code or a take-action message is different. IRS phone procedures (IRM 21.4.1.4) tell assistors to verify your identity and research the account when you call with a four-digit reference number, even if the normal 21-day window has not ended. That makes the code worth writing down exactly.

Codes in the review group (1181, 1221, 1241, 1242, 1261, 1262) usually come with a letter such as a CP05 or a request for documents. If the letter arrives first, follow it. Our CP05 notice page covers the most common one. For a full picture of what the tracker should look like when nothing is wrong, see the Where's My Refund guide, and if the progress bar vanished without an error, read Where's My Refund bar disappeared.