IRS Hub Testing

The Internal Revenue Service works with different tax preparation services to ensure that every taxpayer can file their federal income tax returns without bumping into problems. The IRS will pull a few early filed tax returns as part of HUB testing, also known as the test batch, to ensure that the tax preparation software is working as intended. While this mostly doesn’t affect taxpayers, it may result in your return being processed a bit slower than usual. 

Generally, it takes between 14 and 21 days to process electronically tax returns, which is also the amount of time you should expect to wait to get your tax refund. If the IRS pulls your federal income tax returns for test batch, you may wait an extra couple of days. While this will affect the amount of time it takes to process your tax return, it won’t delay your refund. As soon as the IRS approves your tax refund, your refund will be sent immediately – as usual.  

When does the IRS do HUB testing?

Given that the tax returns are processed at a slower rate when the returns are selected for test batching, the test batching happens before the official start of the tax season. The IRS will pull these test batches from tax preparation services, and the returns are going to be processed normally. So, if your return is a part of HUB testing, you won’t experience delays as the tax season hasn’t been started where you would normally have to wait to submit your return.

If you’re wondering when you’re going to get your tax refund, know that the IRS issues tax refunds right when the tax season starts. Your refund is issued during weekdays, Monday through Friday. After the IRS sends your refund, it should appear in your bank account the same day or the day after.